Kidnapped
by tiacat11
Summary: Rated T. "No one else is here to help you. I am the only source of food and warmth for miles around." He leaned forward a moment. "I am your only hope for survival here."
1. Chapter 1

**Just as a forewarning, this is my first fan fiction. Why I didn't warn you in the summary is mostly because that implies that I only want easy critics. Not so. If there's anything wrong with this chapter, please let me know. I'll never learn otherwise. I have chapter 2 written, but I want to see how everyone likes chapter 1 first. Alright, here I go. ...I feel nervous.**

The blue hedgehog lay against the wall of his cell and shivered. This was nothing new; in fact, this was probably his routine for the past 2 months or so. He was beginning to lose track. All he knew for sure was that he was cold- freezing cold. And hungry. His stomach growled. With a moan, the hedgehog slid further down the wall, trying to remember how he had gotten this way.

"Come _on_, Tails! Let's _go!_"

"I'm coming! Keep your fur on!"

The fox in question, a certain 8-year-old genius, was attempting to lug a huge crate nearly his size to his waiting plane, The X-Tornado. Upon reaching the leg, he heaved a dramatic sigh and slumped against the box, looking up at a teenage hedgehog sitting upon the wing.

"It'd go a lot quicker if you'd help me, Sonic!"

Sonic looked down and smirked; within a moment the startled fox gave a cry as his support was swept out from under him and he thumped to the ground. The now extremely annoyed kitsune looked up to where the hedgehog had returned to his perch. Nothing had changed save there was a large box sitting upon the opposite wing.

"Humph!"

Tails turned around and crossed his arms, pretending to be angry. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Help, don't help, there's no pleasing this guy, is there?" he asked, addressing the sky.

Tails couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Can we please go now?"

Within a few minutes the two were high in the sky, soaring above the clouds looking for a special spot for a picnic they had scouted out together. The occasion? Summer was finally here, and although summer vacation meant nothing to the duo, having never attended school, that wasn't about to stop the two from enjoying it. Suddenly there was a knock on the plane's window, and Tails looked out to see Sonic pointing down to their specified location. Immediately the plane began to dip, heading slightly to the right of a tree upon a very tall hill overlooking a valley. Normally hilly terrain was a nightmare for pilots, having no straight runway path to land on. Not Tails; He was a natural, having piloted since the age of six. The two landed without interruption. Sonic leapt out instantly, hoping for a chance to run.

"Hey! Help me with this first?" Tails called from the wing, trying to untie the cumbersome package.

"Sure!" Soon the thing was finally up the hill resting underneath the tree.

"So, you finally gonna tell me what's in that thing, or what?" Sonic asked, stretched out beneath the tree.

"Well, our food, first…" the fox giggled. "There's no way you could forget that!"

"Well, duh! Other than that! Seemed pretty heavy to you before we left." The hedgehog opened one eye and mimicked his brother's tone. "There's no way you could forget that!"

Tails shifted. "Well, I packed some other stuff too…"

"Like?"

"Like, some shade, our radio, some spare parts for the plane…and your present."

"My…? Aw, Tails! Ya didn't have ta-"

"I wanted to-"

"But really!"

"But nothing! You deserve it!"

"I don't have anything for you!"

"It's not much anyway. And this is a thank you gift. You know… for being my friend."

"Tails…" Sonic glanced at Tails, touched. "…at least let me treat you sometime, kay?

"Like I said, it's nothing. But sure." The yellow fox opened the crate and pulled out a strange, circular device, barely a centimeter in diameter. It was ring shaped, and when Tails presented it to his "brother," that's just what Sonic did-slip it on his finger, over his glove.

"It's one of my first inventions- one of the ones that didn't blow up, that is."

Sonic laughed-a good deal of his first inventions were indeed lost that way, before the fox 'got so danged _good_ at it!' "It's awesome. I won't ever take it off."

Tails smiled happily. "Thanks. That means a lot to me. It was one of my first ionic defragulators."

Seeing his brother's puzzled face he rolled his eyes and laughed. "Those things I make that light up all pretty and make flashy patterns?"

Understanding dawned on the hedgehog's face. "Oo-h. Why didn't you say so?"

It stuck the fox-not for the first time, actually- how incredibly funny it was an 8-year old knew more about machinery than he did. Who couldn't understand an ionic defragulator, for goodness sake? He couldn't help it. He burst into laughter, startling the hedgie, who did not take kindly to it.

"He-y! Quit laughing! What's so funny?"

This had the exact opposite effect on the fox, who collapsed on the ground laughing. Sonic pretended to be insulted a while longer before giving in. When they finally recovered their breath, they agreed to take out their food and make plans for another summer tradition.

"I'm thinking somewhere north."

"I'm thinking west."

"To the northwest then?"

"Alright, that'll work. Vanilla's house is somewhere over there."

"Hmm. Alright, but I'll need to finish the project I promised to the Nooks, then we'll head over."

"Uh, maybe YOU will, but I'm not waiting! I'll run ahead and stay at Vanilla's, and then you can come in a few days. It will take only a few more days, right?"

"Right." Tails wasn't at all insulted that Sonic wasn't willing to spend three more days in his company. He knew the other well enough to know that he simply wanted to be going. Sonic did not make plans in advance. Once he mustered the patience to sit down and plan something, expect that thing done in a day at the latest.

The picnic finished without much incident, although Sonic somehow managed to get milk everywhere _but_ his mouth, including on Tails (don't ask).

At sunrise the next day, Sonic was packed (meaning he had his gloves, socks, shoes, and ring on) and ready to leave.

"Wait! I just remembered something!"

Sonic glanced back from his runner's position. "What?"

Tails shook his head. "Nevermind. Safe Travels."

"Kay, bye!" he winked. "Say hi to Timmy for me!"

"Will do." No sooner had Tails finished his sentence that Sonic was off like a rocket, headed northwest towards their vacation. The fox headed back inside. Time to finish that project, then he could follow him.

Sonic was finally slowing down a bit. He had had a good run all morning, and was now looking for a potential meal on one of the many trees in the forest he was passing through. With a frown, he stopped suddenly, glancing at his ring. The thing was just a little too tight on his finger over his glove. With some effort, he got it off, then took off his glove. He thought he heard some rustling in the bushes behind him, but dismissed it. He slipped the ring on his finger, and then replaced his glove. _There. Perfect fit. Now for breakfast. _Just as he stepped forward, a sharp pain entered his shoulder.

Unbeknownst to the hedgehog, a tall human lay just behind him, shielded by the bushes. Silently, he wiped his brow with his hand. He had been tracking Sonic all day, and waited ahead of him at this point once he got a general idea of his direction. Of coarse, it would have been much easier just to send his robots out after him, but there were some things the doctor liked to do on his own. Now he was waiting and watching for his chance. He leaned forward, trying to get a good view of him without giving himself away. He froze when he pushed into a branch, making a rustling sound, but either the hedgehog didn't hear or didn't acknowledge it. He was currently fiddling with his glove, all attention on it. A sitting duck. The human smiled. Eggman couldn't believe his luck! Carefully, he brought out his gun leveling it with Sonic. This would have to be precise. He'd only get one shot at him. He squeezed the trigger, watching a special dart fly less than three feet across to the unaware hedgehog, embedding itself in his shoulder.

The impact pushed Sonic forward a few steps, followed by a sudden weakness in his knees. He quickly jerked his head around, scanning the infected area. There! A dart protruded out of the skin in his shoulder. He grasped the object with slowly numbing hands and pulled it out, dropping to his knees in the process. The dart was dripping some kind of toxin.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" came a voice from somewhere behind him, dripping with sarcasm.

Sonic hissed. He knew that voice. "Eggman."

"My, my, it looks like you've run into some trouble here," Came the reply, the human stepping forward.

The hedgehog snarled and lunged forward for a bite, but, his reflexes slowed by the toxin in his veins, came nowhere close to his enemy. The expended energy did, however, offer the chance to his sedative to attack brutally. He gasped as he went down to his hands. It was about then that he realized what a bad position he had put himself into. He had never called ahead and told Vanilla to expect them, and Tails wouldn't be over for days. In short, no one would notice his absence until it was too late. _Might already be too late_, he thought feebly as the last of his strength deserted him and he slid down into a laying position.

"Dear me, Sonic!" came the mocking tone, "You don't look so good!"

Sonic tried to reply, but all he could manage was to move his head off the ground a few inches, then slump back.

A hand closed around his wrist. "We'd better get you inside."

Then all was black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright! Guess what? I got my first review! Two actually. So, to Lupis Silvae and Cheetay, I owe you a big thank you! Hmm... You know, in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have started this at the very beginning of finals week at my school. But, I didn't do too bad on time, did I? I almost have three completed, but once again, I want to see how this chapter is received first.**

* * *

Sonic slowly began to regain consciousness. The first thing to return to him was feeling. He could feel something soft and warm all around him (A blanket?) and pain. There was plenty of pain. Especially in his head and shoulder. But… why would his shoulder be hurt? Had he injured it running? No, something about a forest… ow. Now would be a good time to attempt to ask someone else. He probably wouldn't be able to manage a complete sentence yet though, so it had better be good. 'Where am I?' would probably be good.

"Mumph". Nope. Try 'what's going on?'.

"Wha-?" Still no. Maybe he should look around. Slowly he cracked first one eye, then the other, offering him a lovely view of a bleak grey room. A set of Iron bars separated his side of the room from the door. So he was in a cell of some sort. No matter. Slowly he pushed himself up into a sitting position, accidently letting in some air from the room into his blanket. _Yikes! It's freezing in here!_ Just as he had observed that, a speaker somewhere in the room crackled to life.

"Ah, awake now, are we?"

Sonic hissed. That was the same mocking tone Eggman had used in the forest… The forest! Of course! And the dart! He put his hand to his shoulder. Yep. Still sore from where it had entered the skin. And whatever drug had been in there was responsible for his massive headache. There. It all made sense now.

"Eggman!"

"Oh, wonderful, you can speak again."

"Where am I? What time is it? What's going on?"

"I think I liked it better when you were still unconscious. You were quieter then."

"Eggman!"

"Oh, very well. It is currently 9:57 a.m., you are my prisoner, (I thought even you could figure that out) and as for where you are, well, I'll let you wonder." Sonic could practically see the mocking smirk on Eggman's face right now.

"Let me out of here right now, Eggman, or-!"

"Or what, hedgehog? Think carefully about your answer now, as I don't like liars. You are in a cell with reinforcement alloys stronger than steel. I am around 500 yards away and every inch of those 500 yards is dedicated to keeping you contained. There is over a _million _guards posted everywhere within this base and they will not hesitate to kill you. Robots feel no mercy, Sonic. Have you ever fought against a million adversaries at once?"

Sonic was silent. What could he say?

"Mm-hm. I thought not. However, since you're so keen on being out, I'm not so cruel so as to deny you fresh air. Robots! Let the rodent outside and keep him handcuffed. In fact, let him out every day at this time for his _fresh air_."

Sonic wasn't sure he liked the way Eggman said _fresh air_, but he had no time to argue, as within moments two robot guards appeared in the doorway. One stayed directly in front of the door as the other entered his cell and handcuffed him. Then the both of them marched him outside. He hadn't even left the door before he began to shiver uncontrollably. If he had thought it was cold inside, it was sub-freezing outside (It actually was, as Sonic saw by a thermometer hanging in one of the windows).Snow was piled everywhere in drifts that covered the roof and walls. A piercing wind whipped straight through all of this and offered only the promise of more snow. The clouds were so thick in the sky it would have been impossible to tell if it was day or not without Eggman's indication of the time. The two robots led him to an area between the buildings that still managed to catch the worst of the wind and handcuffed him to a bar there.

Then they left. And Sonic was left standing there. Alone.

* * *

Tails yawned and stretched, glancing at the clock on the wall. 10:15. Oops. He must have fallen asleep at his project. He looked down at the blueprint on his desk/temporary pillow and sighed. He was way behind schedule… but that wasn't important. Sonic would have arrived at Vanilla's by now.

"And soon I'll join him there!" he said aloud. Gladly, he turned back to the blueprint. Soon he could build. Soon he could be done. Soon he could leave. Soon he would see Sonic. The fox smiled. He couldn't wait to see Sonic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright. I don't really have an excuse for why it took so long to put up such a short chapter. I baked a cake, ate it, read, listened to music, watched a movie, got sick, passed out on the couch, slept until five, woke up, slept, went Christmas shopping, and that's it. Well, I ate and bathed regularly of course XD. Before I forget, a big thank you to my reviewers, my main motivation in this. Like I said, this is a short chapter, so... um... sorry? I am almost done with chapter four, though, and I can say it is long...er. Sorry. Alright, that's enough rambling on my part, now I go write. And you go read.**

* * *

Eight Days. He had been here eight days. He had had no food or water, and Eggman had never contacted him since the morning he woke up. Eggman had kept his promise; every morning two robots appeared at his door, handcuffed him, and led him outside, leaving him there for hours at a time. The bar he was handcuffed to each day would not allow him to sit down, or curl up for warmth. The only way to do so was to press his body up against the harsh metal wall. The only thing he could do was try to endure the biting wind and hope Tails had discovered his absence by now.

By the time he was allowed back inside his hands would not move and he was almost completely numb. Most of the time his lips were a pale blue color. The room he had originally thought so cold was a welcoming oven in comparison. However, after he had managed to rub feeling back into his hands, the next torture would set in. He was horribly hungry, and lying in a cell all day could hardly distract him from this. In addition, he was bored and perhaps just a little bit lonely. He wished, not for the first time, he could call Tails just to tell him he was alright. He would kill for someone to talk to, even Eggman. But no matter what he said aloud, he couldn't get the doctor to address him. It was as if he had been totally forgotten. And Sonic hated being forgotten.

* * *

"Cream, dear, would you please finish frosting the cake for me while I go run some errands?"

"Yes, Mother!" Cream cried out, delighted at the prospect of a delicious cake for the three of them.

Vanilla the rabbit leaned down to kiss her daughter's head. "Thank you."

"Where are you going, Mother?"

Vanilla kissed Cheese's head. "Not far at all. I won't be gone long, but I've waited too long to pick up our groceries and this cake has left us just about out."

"Okay!"

Cream happily leapt up to the stool to pick up the spatula. This was another obvious sign she was getting bigger. Mother never left her on her own before, but now she often did so for a few minutes at a time nowadays. Gladly Cream began to frost.

Her spatula accidentally made a dip in the white frosting, the chocolate cake easily visible underneath. Oops. Carefully she used the surrounding frosting to patch up the dip. The patch was now completely erased… except for the area she had taken the frosting from, leaving another patch. Frowning, Cream used some more nearby frosting to patch up that one, leaving yet another nearby.

"Oh!" Cream growled in frustration. She took a big spoonful of frosting out of the cup this time and used that to smooth out the cake.

"There. Absolutely perfec-"The ringing phone disrupted her, causing her to drop the spatula right onto the cake.

"Oh-!" She paused a moment to compose herself before answering the phone. After all, it was hardly ladylike to throw a tantrum at a potential visitor.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Cream?"

"Oh, hello, Tails! It's wonderful to hear from you!" Upon hearing this, Cheese flew up to eye level with Cream, making frantic albeit silent waving motions with his paws. "Oh, Cheese says hi!"

"Heh, hi Cheese. Hey Cream, will you do me a favor?"

"Certainly, Tails." First Mother, now Tails. She was growing up.

"Tell Sonic I had some issues putting the Nook's invention together, so I may be a few days late getting up there with you guys."

"…Tell Mr. Sonic?"

"Yeah. I'm real sorry, but there's not much else I can do. Although I might be able to-" The fox started on what was probably about to be a long-winded explanation, but was cut short by Cream.

"Tails, Mr. Sonic hasn't been over to see us in a long time. We thought he was staying with you so you could picnic and travel together."

A cold chill swept over Tails.

"You mean…he's not staying with you?"

"No, Tails. He hasn't… Tails? Is something wrong? Tails? Tails!"

Tails heard all these pleas for acknowledgement, but could do nothing. Everything, especially the receiver in his hands, felt numb. The only thing he seemed capable of doing was to stand there, frozen.

"Tails!"

_This isn't real…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh gee, would you look at that, an update! Alright, I'm sorry, but a have one word along the lines of an excuse: Christmas! I am officially happy. And way late on this. I caught my first case of Author's block writing this, so there's another excuse. However, I pulled it up again in a few days and started writing tons, making me wonder smugly to myself what took me so long. So here you go. You all know the drill, reviews are gold far as I'm concerned. So now I say read. And to Lupis Silvae, I hope this helps your question before about Tails. Sonic does disappear often, but he made actual plans to be at Vanillia's ten days ago.**

**Disclaimer: Oh Gosh, I forgot to do the disclaimer! I guess it was so ****obvious ****I thought I didn't need to put it in writing. Alright, in case you haven't guessed, I don't own Sonic. SEGA does. All I own is the plot and actual writing.**

* * *

Sonic shivered, bent down low futilely trying to chase body heat, was painfully stopped by the handcuffs, and stood up straight again to alleviate the pressure. Once he stood up straight, however, the wind picked up again and he was forced to endure without any sort of protection. The wind didn't blow constantly, but once it died, his stomach would start to rumble, and he was reminded just how hungry he was.

Desperately he looked around; this had to be his longest torture yet. He had been standing out here for what felt like hours. Where were the guards to take him back to his cell? He had never been this bad before; he was so cold snow piled itself on top of his coat, which did nothing to melt them and probably only made it colder. He couldn't feel his hands and they refused to move. He had learned from experience that that was the first sign of frostbite. He had no mirror, but he knew his lips were a deep blue. He glanced down at his shoes. Yep. Covered in a thin layer of ice. The final sign he had been out far too long.

Footsteps in the snow snapped him out of his self pity-induced reverie, causing him to glance up, not into the cold eyes of a robot as expected, but his captor in the flesh. They remained in a staredown for several moments, before Eggman spoke, addressing his robots, but keeping his eyes locked on the hedgehog in front of him.

"Uncuff him, but keep him restrained." The robots gave monotone affirmations and stepped up to release him. Soon Sonic was free of his handcuffs, his arms immediately crossing to protect a nonexistent shred of warmth.

Eggman still refused to speak directly to the hedgehog, but instead turned his back, calling over his shoulder. "Let's go."

Sonic hissed catlike though chapped lips. "Make me." It wasn't that Sonic didn't want to go anywhere, it was simply that he didn't want Eggman thinking he could just say 'Let's go' and expect that order followed.

Eggman turned around, raised a hand, and snapped his fingers. Inside of a second, Sonic cried out in pain as a powerful electric current passed through him. Sonic, weakened by cold and lack of nutrients, dropped to his knees at the Doctor's feet. The symbolism was obvious.

Eggman turned around again. "Let's _go_."Sonic stumbled back to his feet and followed. He was simply too cold and hungry to argue-for now. _Keep it up, Eggy. _Sonic thought to himself.

_We'll see about how long this will go on. _

_

* * *

_

_Okay._ _It's alright. _A panicked Tails fought to control himself while struggling for a solution, an easy way to put his mind to rest. _Sonic disappears all the time. He probably just stopped a while with a friend. He has friends everywhere. _It would be so easy just to believe the lies he was giving himself, but he knew in his heart it wasn't true. Sonic _did_ have a tendency to run off on his own often, but Tails knew this was different. How long had it been? Nine days, almost ten.

Sonic had promised to be at Vanilla's nine days ago, and Sonic kept his promises. No matter what might happen to him, Sonic always kept promises. Tails remembered asking him about that small fact once. Sonic had merely shrugged and said something along the lines of his father doing the same. Tails didn't really remember.

And Cream and Vanilla… Although he'd never admit it, Sonic had always been very happy to see them along with Tails. Perhaps it was something about Vanilla's mothering that neither of them had ever truly known that drew them. Or perhaps it was Cream's sweet innocence Sonic missed. Either way they loved the Rabbits' company. Sonic _could_ have been at a friend's house. But he had promised. No. Sonic was in trouble. He could feel it.

* * *

The strange group walked for what Sonic assumed to be an hour or two, but was probably only five minutes. The robots behind him were quick to give him a shock whenever he walked too slowly, the shock not as strong as the previous one, but enough of a warning to push him faster. Moving forward, they came upon a large building similar to the others, but bigger. And, amazingly, Eggman had kept the tradition of sculpting the building to match his own face. _Sad,_ Sonic thought to himself. _Just sad. _

It became apparent that they were to enter this building, most likely the center of operations in his newest base. The door hissed open, and Sonic found himself torn between the freedom of the outdoors or the warmth of in. A slight shock from behind him made the decision relatively easy, and he followed the doctor inside.

Here at last Sonic was finally granted the warmth he had so coveted earlier, and he was so preoccupied with the sheer delight of warmth at last, he hardly noticed that they had come to their destination until he jerked to a halt by his guards in the doorway. Sonic glanced around the room. They appeared to be in some kind of office or conference room. A fireplace lay off to the side which, to his eternal joy, was lit and lay crackling brightly. There were also florescent lights overhead, illuminating the rest of the room, which consisted of a desk on the far side of the room with chairs on both sides.

Eggman sat on the side nearest the wall, and gestured for Sonic to sit in the other chair. The robots shoved him into the room unceremoniously and departed, leaving Sonic alone with the would-be dictator. As he sat down in the chair, he noticed that the whole setting looked rather like the office you would find belonging to a school principal. Suddenly an amusing image of Sonic going to a high school with the Doctor as principal popped into his head, and he resisted the urge to laugh. Instead, he crossed his arms and shivered. Despite being in a warm room, he found himself shivering, as if is insides had yet to understand he was no longer in snow. A chuckle from across the desk brought his attention back to the room's other occupant.

"You're still cold, no? Undoubtedly your little sessions have lowered your core temperature by quite a few degrees."

Sonic kept his arms wrapped around him, half for warmth and half for protection. He recalled his previous wish of anyone to talk to, and decided to take it back. Less than ten minutes in the Doctor's presence and he was already feeling his blood start to boil, so to speak. He _really _needed to get back home. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Such as where you are so you can find your way back home, for instance?" He seemed amused by the prospect.

Mentally Sonic cursed. How had he read his mind so easily? "That'd do, yeah."

"Hmm. Really now? Would you like to go out and check?" Eggman kept his slightly amused attitude, but now it had a faint poker-faced feeling, as if he was using it to stop Sonic from being able to read him. It was definitely working.

Again Sonic cursed in his mind. Eggman had him pinned and he knew it. He would almost rather stay with Eggman than go back outside in the freezing weather when the ice on his shoes had only just started to thaw. "I've got a better idea. How 'bout _you _go see?"

Calmly Eggman leaned back in his chair. It was evident he feared no attack from his nemeses. "But _I'm _not the one who needs to find out."

Sonic mimicked him. "I've got another idea. How about I stand up, knock you out, blow this place sky-high, and go home?"

"Ha!" The comment actually made Eggman laugh out loud. "If you do, you'll be dead in a day!"

Sonic scoffed. "A day? I'll outlive you by years, _old man._"

Eggman wasn't that ruffled by the insult. Didn't people realize by now that he was a genius? Science could do anything, even make people live forever. "Maybe in lifespan, yes. But I mean something else."

In spite of himself, Sonic was listening now.

"Haven't you begun to notice yet that no matter how long you've been here, you haven't seen but a single living soul apart from me? No one else is here to help you. I am the only source of food and warmth for miles around." He leaned forward a moment. "I am your only hope for survival here."

A hunger cramp attacked Sonic's stomach and he winced. "Some job you're doing."

Eggman's eyes glinted. "Guards!" Immediately the two robot sentries from before-or perhaps two different ones, Sonic could never tell- appeared at the door. "Take the rodent back to his room. No food or water. Ten more days."

Sonic could feel his quills start to rise. Ten days! He'd starve long before then. Eggman had already turned his back on the hedgehog to pull out some kind of blueprint. It hit him then that he honestly didn't expect any sort of resistance from him, and why should he? He had followed him inside without a real fight.

But now was different. Now he could feel his hands again, and he could feel the ring Tails gave him that the fox had crafted of his own two hands around his finger, giving him strength, pushing him on. He could do this. Not for himself, for Tails. He had to see Tails again.

The robots stepped forward as one and grabbed his hands. Big mistake. He flipped then onto their backs and destroyed them in seconds, then was off, speeding down the hallways, ready for escape.

* * *

_At first all around him was black, and then a world comes into being, but something is wrong. The sky overhead is sunless and grey even though it is morning. I look around and see Sonic walking along the ground. I call out to him but he does not hear. As I walk forward, I see he is bound in chains. He continues to walk, but something is wrong. I cry out a warning to him, but he still does not hear in time. Suddenly the ground beneath him is an ocean, and he is trying desperately to swim. Just as he reaches the surface, the water turns to blood and he cries out and goes under again. I scream, but not even I can hear it. The ground is closing up….no… wait….he hasn't come up yet….wait….stop…._ "SONIC!"

Tails screamed and bolted up in bed, sweating. Gasping, he tried to calm himself as he reached over and turned on the light. "What a nightmare…" He mumbled to himself as he tried to understand the meaning of his panic. It was obviously about Sonic, but how was the hedgehog connected with the sea of blood he had seen in his dream? With a sigh, he shook his head. He had known all along that he was in trouble somehow, and this proved it. It had seemed strange before that he just go with an illogical feeling. That was the kind of thing Amy did. But now…. Now, he realized, Sonic's entire existence is illogical, literally and figuratively. _I mean, come on! How many hedgehogs do you know that can run at supersonic speed? _And there was more to it. How many strange adventures had Sonic dragged him along on? Many. Usually Sonic's entire battle plan was based on a feeling and Tails had watched him do it with style. Now it was the fox kit's turn. Sonic was in trouble. And he would help. As the fox grabbed his shoes and slipped them on, he couldn't help but think, _Now how?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Ah! Oh my gosh! Lupus Silvae, I misspelled your name. Twice, actually. In my defence, your name is next to impossible to spell. I just noticed that. I was trying something new here in this chapter, so everyone tell me if I'm any good with action. In other words...anyone care to see how Sonic's doing?**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every chapter? Oh well, if it means not getting sued...I don't own Sonic. SEGA does. All I own is the plot and actual writing. (One day...) **

Racing forward, Sonic whooped in delight as he neared sonic speed for the first time in ten days. Some things, he decided to himself, should never be locked away. _And I'm one of them._ He cheered as he rounded another corner at a speed that would have sent any robots in pursuit flipping over. He could feel his heart racing, his feet just a blue tinted blur against the snow, the wind he had so hated earlier whipping against him, and immediately he felt better. Nothing could catch him now. As long as he could run, everything was better.

He could see the exit coming up now, a metal arch serving as a gateway topped with barbed wire, and a fence that probably ran the entire perimeter of the base. His previous captors seemed to have finally grown some brains and now at least thirty of them stood between him and freedom. Hardly an even match. You almost felt sorry for them. _Almost, _Sonic grinned to himself as he curled up, scattering the robots every which way like so many bowling pins. He uncurled without missing a step, laughing to the sky as he reveled in his newfound freedom.

* * *

That was a few hours ago. This was now. He had definitely mellowed out, although he still felt giddy from his daring escape. His all-out sprint had given way to an easy jog, and he moaned slightly as another hunger cramp punctured his stomach. _Man, I wish I had stayed long enough to steal some food for the road. Not like Lard-belly really needed it._ With a sigh, he shook his head and slowed up a bit more. No use dealing in the past. Now he needed to find someone else to help him.

He flashbacked to Eggman's speech from before. _No one else is here to help you._ _I am the only source of food and warmth for miles around. I am your only hope for survival here._ Could it be true…? _Nah. Old Eggy'd say anything to keep the melodrama alive. He's probably just bluffing._

He came to a stop, glancing around at the landscape. There wasn't much to it. A few hours of running and some mountains and hills had given way to a single, one colored plane. Snow and ice had coated everywhere, making it impossible to see what it truly looked like. It was a little strange how-_what was that?_ A shadow had passed directly in front of him. He quickly glanced up, scanning the sky for what could only be an aerial robot sent to recapture him. _Well they aren't gonna-huh?_ He looked back at the sky, finding not a trace of anything in the sky. He glanced back down. He could have sworn he saw a shadow flit across the ground in front of him. _There it was again! _He shot his head up faster than most thought possible. Still nothing from the sky. It was almost as if... A horrible suspicion grabbed him. He glanced the way he was headed, then back the way he came. Sonic took one step back. Then his world literally shattered apart.

Sonic cried out as the ground he had been standing on earlier suddenly tipped vertically, turning into a wall he must climb. All snow fell off, revealing the "ground" beneath. Ice. He had been walking on nothing but ice. Sonic fought gravity a little longer, clinging to his section of wall, before he lost his grip and plummeted straight into the ocean beneath.

At first, he was simply too stunned to move, the water was so cold. He had thought the air was cold, he had thought the base was cold, heck, (he wanted to laugh at this) he had thought his room was cold at a toasty forty degrees! This was beyond cold. This was beyond freezing. It was so cold, there was simply no room for thought in Sonic's mind. Until he felt _it._

He felt a strange, current-like feeling that comes from something moving fast in the water. Something big. He opened his eyes, seeing a strange blue light above him. Sinking slowly, he realized it was the ice he had been walking on. He stared, not fully comprehending what this meant. Then, he felt _it _again. He turned his head, moving as if in slow motion, to lay eyes on a _thing_ that would play a starring role in his nightmares for months.

The _Thing _was bloated and puffy, a sickly pale color, and above all, _huge_. The dull, uneven lighting helped accentuate that fact. He gasped, a bubble of precious air racing to the surface as he stared at the _thing. _Then the _thing_ raised its arms and slowly reached for the hedgehog. Now he realized the _thing_ actually resembled a squid or an octopus perfectly, but it was easily by far more huge than anything alive he had ever seen. The tentacles could have been ropes, the suction pads at the end the size of trash can lids. The body was as big as the whole center of operations back at Eggman's base. Sonic took in all of this, and felt a wave of panic wash over him.

Still drifting downwards, he began to attempt to make it back to the surface, kicking franticly. The creature stopped, as if puzzled by this behavior, then continued to reach for him. It was the same with all the surface dwellers who strayed too far out onto the ice that coated this section of the ocean, the panicked attempt at swimming, followed by the mad thrashing. By then it will have eaten its prey and ended its thrashing. Why should this be any different? Granted, this prey was strangely spiked, and it walked on two legs instead of four, but it had fur, and meat, and so it was prey. The giant squid gently, almost lovingly, wrapped two tentacles around Sonic's middle and began to pull him towards it.

Sonic made a strange noise in his throat, not allowing more air to escape. His was already starting to feel a lack of oxygen start to build in his lungs. He began to kick at the tentacles that bound him as the squid pulled him closer to itself. _Come on, hedgehog, think! Use your head! You've been in worse scrapes than this!_ Desperately he grabbed at the suction pads around his middle, but as soon as he had successfully freed one area and set to work on another, it would simply reattach itself to him. He glanced up to see the squid rotate itself so that the center of the tentacles faced him, revealing a wickedly sharp beak. He knew from the smaller versions of octopus that that beak was very powerful, and could easily snap him in two._ If there was ever a time for you to pull a miracle out of the bag, now would be it! _

The squid snapped him closer all at once, closing the remaining distance between him and it alarmingly quickly. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the other tentacles were simply flailing madly around as if they did not know there was prey in its other hand. The beak was feet away now… _No!_ With a cry, he caught hold of one of the loose tentacles, shoving it into the beak in place of him. The squid unknowingly bit down on its own appendage, cutting though it as easily as a knife though warm butter. The tentacle snapped clean off, billowing clouds of blood into the water as the squid writhed in agony, releasing him in the process. Using the squid as a sort of springboard, Sonic leaped for the water's surface, the creature's equivalent of a scream following him.

He was desperate for oxygen now. Kicking and clawing, he almost made it to the surface… his hand was outstretched… he was inches from the surface... A suction pad closed over his shoe, dragging him back down into the depths of the ocean. Sonic shot his head down, seeing the creature reaching up with its remaining appendages to secure his hold on his prey. _If ferals really can feel emotion like they say, I'd say this guy is really P.O'd right now. _He kicked with his caught leg, trying to shake the squid's grip, but, unable to find leverage in the liquid, only succeeded in losing altitude to its game of tug-of-war in the water. _No… No…! _He jerked his head up to the light just a few feet above his head. How sad, to lose when so close to the finish! The clouds of blood in the water were making it hard to see, stinging even worse than the saltwater against his eyes. He could barely see the squid though the red haze that was this ocean.

Choking, he fought against the pull one more desperate time. Then, all at once, the squid seemed to decide that this prey was not worth the effort, and released him. Within seconds, it had disappeared into the red clouds below. Sonic glanced up, relieved, only to find a new enemy. _The ice was freezing over again!_ Now he was fighting time. But he was strangely happy. This was a race, and Sonic never lost a race. His hand outstretched again, he shattered the thin ice with his fist. With a gasp, Sonic's head finally broke the surface.

Coughing and retching, He pulled himself up onto the ice, finding actual physical pain in the wind as it tore through his sodden fur. He glanced back to find the whole ice floe tinted red. A sea of blood. Creepy. Suddenly his stomach heaved and he threw up a massive amount of blood he had accidentally swallowed onto the ice. With a moan, he knew he was in for it now. He was malnourished, dehydrated, sick to his stomach, freezing cold, and now he was soaked. He pulled off his glove and examined his hands. Almost instantly, he replaced it. His hands were frostbitten. End of story.

With a moan, he curled up on the ice, unable to summon the strength to do anything more. A part of him wondered if this was the end. Was this really how Sonic the Hedgehog, the great hero of Mobius, was going to die? Freezing to death in the middle of the summer? Something went through him. _No. Never. I'll never…_another pulse went through him, stronger this time, and it actually occurred to him that this wasn't just his emotions. _It felt kinda like them, though… _When the pulse came again, Sonic was ready. He pushed himself up, trying to trace the pulses. He tried to get to his feet, but almost immediately fell. _I'm not even strong enough to stand! _

The pulse came again, stronger still, and this time with a hint of familiarity. _I know that feeling! _Now he crawled along the ice, growing quicker now. He reached the source of the pulsing faster than he would have thought in his current state and quickly began to dig in the snow. A very familiar glow was beginning to appear. With a cry of joy, his hands found the object he had been searching for, the only thing capable of bringing his strength back to him, the miracle worker of thousands of years. Sonic clutched the green Chaos Emerald in his hands, his lips moving soundlessly, forming a silent prayer of thanks to God for allowing this emerald to be here of all places. The energy coursed though him and he could feel again.

It could do nothing for the cold, but Chaos energy is simply life, and that is exactly what Sonic needed. He pulled off his glove again, and watched the emerald restore life to his dead, frostbitten cells. He didn't take off his shoes, but he knew the same was happening to them. He pulled himself back to his feet. Yes. He could still take it. he could take Eggman's torture, and he could take the torture of wherever he was. He would take it, and go home a hero. He could take it. _Now all I need is some food._


	6. Chapter 6

**And she makes a comeback! Ha! Take _that, _author's block! So yeah, in case you haven't guessed, school is back in session for me, and this time I am even being given a seventh class online to make life even harder for me. Yay. Not only that, but they fact that my Internet is being extremely temperamental right now is just icing on the cake for me. Oh Yeah. Fun time. Luckily, I still managed to get this in and get the news out. Now I must thank you all so much. I could not believe how many people added this to their story alert list and reviewed. That _really_ gives me the warm fuzzys. And speaking of warm.....Let's head to the story, shall we?**

* * *

Tails was about to lose his mind. Determined to get his big brother back, he was willing to do anything to rescue him. The problem with this was simple-where could he be? It was beyond unlikely that his kidnapper (how Tails even hated the sound of the word!) would have stayed near the site of the capture, but nevertheless he had taken out the Tornado and flown over every inch of the route they had worked out together, pausing to question anyone near his path. Nothing.

He had pinpointed the capture to have happened somewhere in a forest along the way around noon, but a recent rainfall had washed away all traces of any struggle. Now Tails was at a dead end. And about ready to rip his fur out. He had taken to pacing his workshop furiously, waiting for inspiration to strike like it always did.

But now was different than when he was inventing. There was no blue hedgehog to pop in and order him to take a break, to tell him he needed to "chill", and to make him some lunch. Now, his first and best friend in the world was in trouble, maybe even d_- no. Don't think like that. He's out there. You know it ._With a sigh he collapsed on the floor against the wall and buried his face in his hands. This was usually about the time Sonic would pop in and-

The doorbell rang. Tails looked up numbly, wondering if his very thoughts could have brought Sonic here. It rang again. _…Who? _When it rang once more it occurred to him that he should answer it. Slowly he stood up and walked to the door, opening it. Who stood there was not Sonic, but Tails was almost just as happy to see. With a cry of delight, he called, "Cream!"

And indeed the young rabbit was standing on the front porch, looking quite concerned. "Tails?" she smiled. "It's good to see you!"

"It's good to see you, too! What are you doing here?" The fox was definitely happy to see her, previous misery forgotten.

"Well, you see…" Cream scratched the back of her neck nervously. "After you called us, Mother came back in and I explained to her what happened, and that I was worried. She was worried too, so she said as long as I brought Cheese with me, I could come and check on you and make sure everything was alright. So, err… _is _everything alright?"

Tails expression turned serious. "No. Everything is not alright. Cream, are you expected back sometime soon? I may need your help. Or _Sonic_ may need it."

* * *

Sonic shivered and continued onward. Now that he had an emerald, he could just teleport away, right? _Wrong. That'd be too easy._There was… something…. blocking him every time he tried to teleport. He frowned, staring at the emerald clutched in his hand. That was the part that was so strange- he could summon the energy just fine, but if he tried to teleport more than just a short distance, _something_ would stop him. He could not tell if the barrier was natural or man-made, if it came from him or far away, or if it was negative or positive energy. _Hm… either way, I'm outta luck. Fate seems so after me right now for some reason._There was no way for him to teleport, and so he was forced to endure the elements. _Oh, well. Least it can't get any worse. _This was, of course, right about the time he glanced up to see a violent snowstorm headed his way. _Aw, HECK!_

* * *

"Alright. This is about the spot where it happened." Tails was gesturing to a clearing in a forest they had flown to. Tails himself had been to this particular spot almost ten times in the past two days, but he was feeling more optimistic by the second with Cream helping.

She glanced around, an air of importance all around her. "Hmm…"

Tails took a step forward, glancing around at his surroundings. "There was a rainstorm here a few days ago, so there's probably nothing left but... Well, yeah…."

Cream was obviously trying to decide what to do. It was one thing to have a theory about heading out to look, but quite another thing once you actually got there, as the two were quickly learning. "Well…Umm…."

"Chao Chao!" A cry from her beloved pet appeared to have been some sort of advice.

"Oh, Yes! Let's try that! OK, Tails, Cheese says let's go ask people who live here if they found anything _before _the rain!" She was relived now that an actual plan had been formed and eager to get started.

"Well I already asked if they saw Sonic," Tails started slowly, his eyes becoming glassy as he thought back hard, "…But I don't think I ever asked them about finding anything. Alright, let's try that!"

And the duo set off in high spirits, hopeful of finding news of their beloved best friend.

* * *

Sonic curled up into a ball and shivered. Wonderful. Simply wonderful. All heat had, yet another time in as many days, been stripped from his body. His only source of heat available was what he could coax out of the emerald, which was not much at all. What was worse, he could literally _feel_ his body weakening from lack of nutrients. He needed to get something to eat, fast. No, scratch that, he needed to make a fire. He just wasn't sure if he had the strength.

He had no sense of time; it seemed he had wandered aimlessly for ages in the storm, unable to even see his hand in front of his face, before quite literally stumbling across this feeble shelter, a small cave carved from the ice that surrounded it. As for how long it had been since then, he had no idea. He might have slept, or he might have stayed awake this whole time.

As a matter of fact, sleep sounded really good right now. It didn't seem that the ice was nearly as cold as before. It felt almost comfortable… In fact it was almost strange how warm he felt. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered something about people feeling warm just before they froze to death… But surely that could wait until after he had his nap, right? Just as he closed his eyes and prepared to drift off, a voice cut though the fog of his mind.

"Pathetic. Simply pathetic." Sonic groaned. He knew that voice.

"Aww, shut up Shadow. S'not like you could do better if you've been though everything I have."

"Of course I could. I'm the ultimate life form. There's nothing I cannot do."

"Yeah, right. You're overconfident." He looked across to see Shadow, but something was wrong. He seemed to waver and shimmer before his eyes, and it almost looked like he moved a tiny bit every time Sonic blinked.

"Pot, you call the kettle black." He could see the smirk on his face, and anger rose up in him.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, however, a different voice interrupted him. "Leave him alone, Shadow! He's doing the best he can!" Cream. Yep, there she was, standing right there… and shimmering also. Was there something wrong with his vision…?

"Amy's right, he's been through a lot. Just leave him be!" Sonic smiled. Tails. Wait…How long had Tails been here? He knew before he even looked he was shimmering. He was finding it increasingly hard to focus through the fog of his mind. There was something about that shimmer that was familiar….And oh, man, was he tired! He really just wished everyone would stop talking so he could sleep.

"You guys……everyone……Just shut up….…..be quiet……..let…….me……sleep………"

"**Target located. Subject: Sonic the hedgehog is to be escorted back to base immediately."**

The voice tore though his cold-induced hallucination, causing the shimmering figures to vanish in exchange for almost an entire squadron of robots.

"Mmm…." Warm feelings gone, he nonetheless continued his almost toddler-akin wish for sleep.

"**Repeat: Sonic the hedgehog is to be escorted back to base immediately. Refusal to comply will…"**

"Sh-Shut up……..lemme sleep already…………….too tired…………stop…………."

"**Doctor, the rodent is incompliant. Permission to commence with Plan B?"**There was a pause, and the robots stood still, presumably listening to Eggman's instructions. It appeared that he was done presently, as they all saluted to no one and cried as one, **"Affirmative!"**

They all gathered 'round the hedgehog, he watching from his position on the ground, and shocked him multiple times until, at last, he forced himself to his weary feet and began the long, slow march back to Eggman's base.

* * *

**Bah! I think I've done better. How about you guys, what do you think? I get goosebumps every time I see a new review, so make my day and send me two! (hey, I made a rhyme!) I was trying to make this one Tails-centric since I made the last one Sonic-centric, but he just can't _do _much yet. I introduced Cream, because I think she's awesome, but I know a lot of people think otherwise. Hopefully I don't annoy them too much. 'Sides, Tails can't be all alone, right? *sigh* Alas, Sonic, it is not fate that is after you, but a bored fanfiction author, which is infinitesimally worse. I really gotta shut up now. This is tiacat11, signing off! (................that rhyme was pretty good!)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Oi. I _hate _not having Internet. Sorry people. On the other hand, I'm not too sorry, as I did procrastinate just a little bit for a reason. In case you haven't noticed, while America goes through one of its recessions, I am going through one of my own, in the department of reviews. C'mon, people, only 2 reviews? I got more than that before! Most reviews take an average of 360 seconds. If you hated it and you think this fiction sucks on ice, you wouldn't take 360 seconds to make it less suckish? If you love it and you think it's awesome, you wouldn't take that long to make it even better? I know I'm sounding kinda whiny right now, but I _need _reviews! You could just be like, "Hey TC, I just ate a cheeseburger!" (Of course, I would appreciate it if it actually had something to do with the story but...) Alright, I guess I've whined enough. Read and _Review_ please!**

* * *

When the robots finally returned with their prisoner in tow, Doctor Eggman found it hard to believe that this was truly the great Sonic the Hedgehog. The wise-guy grin was gone, to be replaced with a mask of pain that he was obviously trying and failing to hide. The life that his emerald eyes used to shine so brightly with had dulled to little more than a spark, and there was something…off…about his fur. It seemed an unnatural color, almost, that the Doctor couldn't quite figure out. It was almost as if…

The robots broke their circle and presented their prize to their master, forcing down on his shoulders to push him into a kneeling position. His eyes glared up at him, dark with hate.

"Well, what do we have here?" The Doctor mused to himself as he stared down at his victim. "Looks to me like a disobedient _rat_."

Sonic snarled in reply, too enraged to act civilized.

"Oh, well. Perhaps it's better this way. Your little escapade may have helped put things into perspective for you. I _was_ very generous, you know."

Sonic snarled again. "Generous with _what?_A grey cell and no food is hardly generous, Eggy."

"But at least it was _warm_." He smirked, his next sentence silky soft and persuasive. "I bet you'd kill for that nice warm bed now."

Sonic grit his teeth. Eggman was testing him, baiting him to see if he'd crack for the rewards. He shook his head no and tried to stop his shivering, a difficult thing indeed.

"No? Well, if you're sure….from what I understand, you have a little gift for me, no?"

"N-no." Came the reply through chattering teeth.

Eggman's eyes flashed dangerously. "I _meant _the Chaos Emerald, rodent! I know you have it!"

"N-never said I didn't ha-have it. Ju-just said wasn't for yo-you." He was shaking pretty bad now. Even Eggman was feeling some remorse at having put him through this. But it wasn't _his_ fault. The rodent had run away.

"Hand the Chaos Emerald over now, or-!"

"Or _what, _Eggman? Th-there's nothing you co-could possibly put me through th-that's worse than what I've g-gone through already!" He looked up defiantly, but Eggman seemed to be more interested in something else.

"Your fur. What's wrong with it?" He snapped suddenly. Sonic was silent, confused by this sudden change in topic.

Eggman reached out a hand and felt the Hedgehog's forehead, and only then did he realize what was wrong with it. Ice. There was ice over every part of his body, frozen solid in flat plates like a suit of armor. Eggman withdrew his hand with a feeling close to horror.

Sonic smiled, but the suffering was still evident in his eyes. "I, uh, went for a little swim, Eggy."

* * *

Tails sighed and sat down against a nearby tree. They had been at this for what felt like hours, and still they hadn't found a single clue, a sign, anything to lead them on. He was beginning to lose hope again. Suddenly he leapt up and jogged forward at a quicker pace, as if trying to outrun the despair that seemed to dog his footsteps. _I wonder if this is why Sonic always runs, to get rid of the bad feelings he's bound to pick up always fighting Eggman. I'll ask him if- _No. Not if. When. _I'll ask him_ when _we find him._

He glanced over at Cream, who had slowed, sat down, and jumped back up and followed him without a word the entire time. The rabbit saw Tails' glance and smiled at him encouragingly, as if to say, _No worries, we got this!_Just like Sonic did. Heh. It's a little strange how he never really appreciated her company as much as now, when he really needed a friend. He glanced ahead at that moment, and lucky he did, or he may never have seen the darkly colored figure lurking up ahead before it was too late. A sharp intake of breath from behind and to the left of Tails told him Cream saw the figure too, and in a second he cried, "Hey, you!"

The figure did not seem to realize the duo (really a trio) meant them no harm, for in that instant the figure leapt up and took off at an amazing speed. Tails and Cream blinked in unison, then gave chase.

"Wait, Sir! We only want to ask you something! Please slow down!" That was Cream.

The figure replied by running even faster. They were losing him! Tails didn't want to have to leave Cream behind, but he had no choice. He had to catch this stranger who might know something. Tails was by no means a marathon runner, but you don't spend four years of your life training with the fastest thing alive for nothing. In a flash, Tails' namesakes flicked up and propelled him forward in a gust of speed.

This was difficult terrain, with trees moving on every side, making just one mistake turn to failure. So he just wouldn't make that one mistake. He kept on the figure's tail, dogging his footsteps. Just as the dark figure reached a clearing and prepared to take off in a speed Tails would never be able to match, he tackled the figure around the waist, throwing him to the ground.

"What the he- Get offa me!" Tails caught sight of a pair of angry ruby colored eyes and gasped.

"Shadow?"

* * *

Sonic closed his eyes and lay back against his chair in Eggman's "office". The setting was the same as before, save a few key differences. His chair was noticeable closer to the fire, and Eggman was no longer threatening him, instead working on some complicated-looking math. In short, he was back at where he started, just more hungry and weak than before.

He was no longer cold however, as Eggman, perhaps bothered by a tiny conscience, had allowed him to remain next to the fire until he regained a stable temperature. He was still shivering however; he wondered idly to himself if he was simply so cold he would never stop shivering even in an oven. But yes, the warmth was definitely appreciated. Had he not been in the presence of his mortal enemy, he would have started purring by now. But he was, and so even at rest as he was now he kept his other senses on high alert, wary of the Doctor's every move.

The biggest surprise had come when he had been allowed to eat for the first time in what he estimated to be 11 days. When the robots came with a plate of chilidogs and set it on the table in front of him, he had stared at it like it was some plant from Mars. He had then proceeded to slowly reach out and take one, acting this time as if it were a bomb. His intention had been to move slowly to see if Eggman _wanted_ him to eat them, and then carefully sniff them for signs of any poison. That was his intention. In reality, the very second the scent of the food hit him, his brain went into overdrive and he had half the thing in his mouth and swallowed before he had a chance to realize what had happened. Nothing bad had occurred, and he was feeling slightly better for it.

His eyes opened again, to find Eggman had silently transitioned from writing to examining him closely, as if he were one of his experiments. Sonic glared. "What are you looking at?"

Eggman shook his head and waved his hand as if shooing a fly. "Oh, nothing. Just wondering if you learned anything from your escapade." Eggman had refused to call Sonic's escape an escape, instead referring to it as "his little escapade."

"…We're somewhere very cold….somewhere where there's animals I've never seen, that have never been in contact with other people…." He was not stating these things at Eggman's request, simply saying them aloud to help him think. "Somewhere on the coast……" His eyes lit up with a mix of triumph and horror. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Eggman shook his head, grinning wolfishly. "I'm not. Welcome to the Arctic Circle, rodent."

* * *

Tails, Cream and Cheese stood outside the porch to Tails' house, looking rather like schoolchildren caught in an off-limits area by a teacher. Shadow stood at the foot of the steps, playing the role of the teacher. "-and the next time you do that, Tails, I _won't _hesitate to chaos blast you off the face of the planet. I mean that. I don't care what Sonic-"

"But _please_, Mr. Shadow! That's what we've been trying to tell you! Mr. Sonic needs help and we thought you might know something!" Shadow glared at Cream for interrupting him. The first thing the trio had done upon recognizing their…antisocial rival… was to apologize over and over. Shadow had yelled at them for a few minutes, using words he really shouldn't have in front of a 6-year-old, and then grabbed their arms and teleported them back home.

"…I really don't care. You," (this was addressed at Tails) "get inside. You," (Cream and Cheese, who were nearing tears) "go home. I mean it. I don't care what happens to the blue idiot. Next time leave me alone or else."

Cream lost it as the three headed into the house, bursting into tears. Shadow heard this, but did nothing. He did feel bad about yelling at the poor kid, but what was to be done? If he hadn't, they might have started asking why he was in the forest in the first place. He pulled the Purple Chaos Emerald that he had stolen out of his quills and stared at the beautiful gem, admiring how the facets caught the light.

It was better that he didn't get involved. He didn't care about faker. He couldn't care less about the idiot's trouble. He was always in trouble. He didn't care.

Shadow the Hedgehog glanced back at the house one more time, his face too deep to read, before forcing his mask of indifference on his face and teleporting away.

* * *

**This story is taking on a mind of its own, I swear. It's creepy. Now if only it could gain enough consciousness****to type itself up instead of bugging me to do it. Oh well. Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**You want it, you got it! How was _that _for a quick update? Hopefully good, and hopefully the quality hasn't changed. It looks like things are doing much better in the review department, and I'm glad for that. You see, you motivated me so much, my brain just, like, churned into overdrive and I couldn't get everything typed fast enough. I know that no matter how much I put up here, I'm gonna forget _something _important, so bear with me. First off, before I get anything else said, there's no sense in translating D'arvit, as it would have to be censored. I was trying to think of a way to swear without actually swearing (as I don't like cursing, so there's no point in me doing it) and "dangit" sounded just not right somehow. I say D'arvit a lot, though, when I want to swear but don't. Yeah. Anyway, I'll give 500 points to the first person who can tell me where it came from. If any of you guys think this chapters a little heavy, you should have seen what I came up with first. The morning after I typed it up, Eggman had this really heavy speech, that when I read it again, I was like, "Whose story is this?" I saved the speech, and it may or may not come up later, but I did edit slightly. I hope that was good judgement on my part. By the way, just as a warning, seeing as I have a four day weekend ahead of me, you'd think I could type the next chapter soon, right? WRONG! I'm going with my church on our annual snow retreat, so you probably won't hear from me for a while. I _will_ keep typing, though! I won't forget you! So don't hate me...much. Alright, I'll shut up now. I think I've said this enough times already, but I'll say it again for good luck: Read and Review!**

* * *

Sonic hadn't meant to fall asleep. He honestly hadn't. But he had finally been allowed to thaw for the first time in what felt like forever, and he was simply tired. It wasn't like he had gotten a good night's sleep his whole stay here. _Who sleeps easy while their kidnapped? Not me._Not to mention battling a giant squid is hardly good for your health. It hadn't even felt like sleep. It felt like one second he was sitting in his chair fully on guard of any tricks, and the next he was jolting awake at the sound of Eggman summoning his robots.

Blinking rapidly, he tried to force himself to work again, but he was still tired, and he just wasn't feeling well. How long had he been out anyway? He glanced around the room, hoping for some sort of clock or indicator of how long he had slept.

"In case you're wondering, rodent, you've only been asleep a few minutes. Five or ten at most." Well. That took care of that. Although the comment Eggman had made wasn't the least bit threatening, it still irked Sonic that Eggman could still tell what he was thinking. He still yawned to show he wasn't afraid of him, however.

Yet another pair of robots appeared in the doorway (_doesn't Eggy _ever_ change models or colors or anything? _Sonic wondered) and stepped forward. "Now, trusting you've learned not to even try running away, I believe you would prefer to be taken back to your cell to sleep, no?"

Sonic glared and said nothing, but when the robots stepped forward (a little more hesitantly this time) he allowed himself to be handcuffed and stood up. Eggman glanced up from his paper and added, "Don't think you've escaped punishment, by the way. We'll talk in the morning about your little escapade."

Sonic hissed, drawing his lips over perfect white teeth. "I'd love to see you try."

"Oh _ho! _So you do have some fight left in you! Well, no worries, rodent, we'll get rid of that soon enough."

This time Sonic growled deep in his throat, his emerald eyes shining with a dark fire. "You'll _never _break me."

Eggman leaned back in the chair, a sardonic smile on his face. "But I will. And that will be my kind of fun."

Sonic blinked a moment, surprised, before the fury of before came back full steam. "And so you think it'll be fun getting your butt kicked again when you fail. I'll say it again: You'll _never _break me."

Eggman threw his hands up to the sky as if asking for the answers up there and replied, "Why do you think you are here? This whole base has been designed to keep you contained while I have my fun with you. Yes, I will conquer the world. But _you_ are no longer an obstacle. You are a goal. I break you, and I win. No one else will stand against me. Once you are under my control, broken and defeated, I can get to work on other exploits. The world has taken a backseat to you, my dear boy, and you're going to wish it hadn't." He waved at the robots, signaling to them to take him away. "Good night, rodent."

_He's insane,_ Sonic thought. _Totally insane. He'll never break me, but he'll try. He'll try with every method he knows, and I can't run away if I want to live. There has to be some way out. I can't just die here! _The robots shoved him into his cell. He hardly noticed, moving towards the bed automatically. _But I'm not lying. He won't ever break me. Never._

_D'arvit… What do I do now?_

* * *

Tails yawned and stretched, blinking awake from his accidental nap on the couch. He caught sight of daylight streaming through the windows and decided to change "nap" to "sleep." Glancing around, he caught sight of Cream sleeping peacefully a little way down on the other side of the couch, her lips upturned in a small smile from the influence of sweet dreams.

Tails smiled, and reached over and shook her gently. "Cream. Hey, Cream. Cream!"

She slowly opened her eyes and sat up, yawning. "Wha-? Wha time 'sit?"

"I don't know. We must've fallen asleep last night." Last night had been a hard time, with Tails and Cheese both trying and failing to console the poor little girl after Shadow's less-than-kind lecture. Tails secretly vowed to get Shadow for that. Cream had done nothing wrong, and he himself had made an honest mistake.

Suddenly Cream started to tear up again. _Oh, no. _Tails thought. _I really hope she didn't-_ But to his surprise, the tears turned to rage.

"I _hate _that mean Mr. Shadow!" Cream cried, raising her voice and stomping her feet. "When we find Mr. Sonic, I'm gonna _tell on him!_ And then Mr. Sonic will beat him up! And Mr. Shadow will be _sorry!_And he'll apologize! The…the…." Cream searched for a word bad enough to call Shadow. "The stupid meany _doo-doo head!" _Her rant thus ended, she simmered for a minute, and then calmed, sitting back down and turning to Tails, who looked stunned.

"I'm sorry Tails. That wasn't very ladylike of me." She said, misunderstanding his shock.

Tails stared for a moment, then burst into laughter. "I-I'm sorry….Ha! Cream…! Ha ha! I'm not laughin' at you….ha ha ha! Ju-just….Ah ha ha! I've never heard you talk like that before! Ha ha!"

In a moment the younger girl flushed, once she understood what he was trying to tell her. "Well…he's just not very nice, is all."

"No." Tails calmed. "But I see one thing wrong with your plan: Sonic's gonna have 'ta wait in line until _I'm _through with him. _Nobody_ talks that way to my friend."

Cream smiled. "Thank you, Tails," She said, sounding truly genuine.

They sat in companionable silence for a minute or two before a familiar scent hit Tails' nostrils. Sniffing curiously, he looked around, trying to figure out where it could be coming from. Cream could smell it too, and they both looked at each other and saying, "Pancakes?" before heading towards the kitchen. To their surprise, though, they found it empty. "But how-?" Tails wondered before noticing Cream had walked out of the kitchen, following her nose. He followed her, and headed into his lab.

There, they found a decidedly strange sight, as who should be sitting there cooking breakfast but Cheese the Chao, who, after waking up before any of the two, took it upon himself to make pancakes for the 2 friends. A most noble and generous deed, if it weren't for the fact that- "Cheese!" Tails cried, "That's not a stove!"

Cheese looked his way and chirped, as if to say, "It's not?" Tails shook his head. "No Cheese, it's not. It's not even supposed to be on fire."

"Oh!" Cream cried, "What bad manners! Cheese, turn that off! Tails, I'm sorry! Is your invention hurt?"

"No," Came the reply, the fox inspecting it for damage, "It's not hurt at all. Thank you, Cheese for making us breakfast. That was very nice of you. I just wish you'd use the stove, is all."

Cream, the threat of breaking something that didn't belong to her gone, stepped forward and curiously inspected the machine. "What does it do?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just checks for energy leaks…" His voice trailed off as his heart seemed to plummet and leap forward again all at once. This was unbelievable. Here was the answer to his silent prayers, the quite possibly one thing that could help him find Sonic…and he had been lead to it by pancakes. _Wait until Sonic hears about this one! _

He looked up, determination burning in his eyes like sky blue fire. "Cream, I've taught you how to set up the Tornado. We're going up. Now. We're gonna find Sonic by this time tomorrow, or my name isn't Miles Tails Prower!"

* * *

**I love it when he gets all determined-y. By show of hands, who here agrees with Cream's opinion of Shadow? Alright, who here thinks she should go ahead with her plan and make Shadow pay? Who here wishes I would stop asking stupid questions and get on with typing the next chapter already? Alright, I've always wanted to end a chapter with an announcer asking a bunch of stupid questions everybody knows the answer to, so here goes: Will Tails and Cream find Sonic? Will Eggman truly be able to crack Sonic? What is Tails' plan, and will it work? Do Tails and Cream like each other? What happened to Shadow? Will Eggman's conscience make a comeback? Find out the answers to these and more next time! (The answer to the last one is no.) Hey! No spoilers back there!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I deem fit to post the chapter now. Rrr! There's one sentence in this chapter that's driving me nuts! It stinks on ice and I can't find a better sentence to replace it. If one of you have a suggestion for a better replacement, not just that sentence, (You'll figure it out once you read it) but any one, **_**please **_**tell me. Just as a warning, this chapter is getting kinda rough with the whole, "torture the hedgehog!" thing. Thought I ought to warn you in case you don't like that stuff. (Although judging from recent reviews, I don't think that's going to be a problem.) Alright, I hate ending on a sour note, so to brighten it up, let's hear it for the reviewers! Thank you! Oh! One more thing: congradulations to shadow1alphalite, who won 500 points for saying D'Arvit came from Artemis Fowl. Too bad points have no cash value. In fact, they have no value of any kind. Sorry.**

* * *

The whip was raised again, metal tip glinting in the harsh light offered by the bulbs overhead, before slapping down on the teen's back with a horrible _thwack_ that would make anyone else in the room, had they been there, wince, or perhaps gasp in shock. The robot holding the whip felt not even a shred of remorse. It raised the whip over its head again, slowly, and brought it down harshly again. The tip broke furred skin again, once an intricately carved gold piece, but almost a full half hour of this abuse had given it a much less attractive scarlet gleam.

_Thwack, Thwack, Thwack. Pause._

Sonic gritted his teeth and made no noise as the whip came down for another set of agonizing blows. His back burned in so many places, it had just about gone round the bend, numb almost, for all the places he had been struck. His hands were, again, handcuffed to a bar, but this one lay only a few inches off the ground, forcing the hedgehog to lie down and suffer the full wrath of the whip in the robot's hand. It had acquired a rhythm, almost, for he could anticipate when the blows would come and when he would be given three seconds' reprieve as the robot raised the whip slowly overhead to offer more force.

_Thwack, Thwack, Thwack. Pause. One, Two, Three. Thwack, Thwack, Thwack. Pause._

Any normal boy his age would be crying right now. Any adult would be begging for mercy. Sonic was made of a more stubborn mind, and refused to give Eggman the satisfaction. For that reason, he gave no cry of pain when the whip came down, allowed no whimper to pass his lips, simply burned a hole in the wall with his gaze. The closest he had come was a half yelp the first time he had been struck, but he had clamped down and swallowed it.

_Thwack, Thwack, Thwack. Pause. Thwack, Thwack, Thwack. Pause._

Standing off to the side was Eggman himself, watching the proceedings, for some reason, with an air of dissatisfaction. They had been at this torture for hours, the Hedgehog being woken up around five. The doctor had lead him from torture to torture, never being allowed to rest for more than 5 minutes at a time, and never staying with the same activity for more than 30 minutes. No matter what they did, it seemed, he never seemed satisfied with whatever it was and would soon move on.

_Thwack, Thwack…..Pause?_

Sonic came out of his trance, surprised. What was going on? Where was the next hit? He couldn't see Eggman or the robot from his position, and he couldn't hear either of them saying anything. His muscles remained tense, anticipating a blow that was not to come.

He heard footsteps behind him, and suddenly he felt a hand on his back. He had expected a blow so fiercely he jerked and tried to move before it even registered that this wasn't the whip. Now he lay back, confused. The hand was warm, so it couldn't be the robot. Eggman seemed interested in examining his wounds closely. Very carefully and gently, not pressing hard on the cuts to make them hurt, he traced his fingers down every cut and welt in order, not missing a single one. Sonic's confusion was obvious. In a moment, his hand retreated, leaving Sonic even more confused than before. What was going on? In a moment, the answer came horrifically clear. His hand returned, in the exact same pattern as before, but something had changed. Wherever Eggman touched, the wound there began to burn.

_Saltwater! _Sonic realized suddenly. _He dipped his hands in saltwater! _This sudden revelation caused his back to jerk up, trying to buck the hand from his back. He continued his stubborn refusal to cry out in pain, but he did make half-formed whimpers that stopped somewhere in his throat. He thrashed about, still silently, in pain before his foot kicked out at where Eggman kneeled, trying to take just a few seconds of rest. A mistake, as it turned out. Eggman captured and held his ankle underneath his own boot, and continued rubbing the saltwater in. Once he was finished, he slowly stood up, not putting his full weight on Sonic's ankle, but plenty for it to hurt. Sonic was now yelling in pain, trying both to free his ankle and stop the burning in his back. Eggman continued applying pressure until Sonic was sure it would snap, and then released it all at once.

Eggman stepped back, giving an order Sonic didn't hear. The handcuffs opened, allowing him to curl into a half-ball, a typical hedgehog response to pain. Sonic had quieted by now, and he heard an order from Eggman: "Stand up."

Slowly, he rose to his feet, forcing his tired head to stay held up high. He didn't get very far, though, as just as soon as he reached full height, the whip that he was truly beginning to hate smashed across his face, cutting his cheek and throwing him back down to the ground.

"This time, do it _without _hesitating. Stand up." Sonic stumbled to his feet quicker this time, not wanting to obey Eggman, but also not wanting to get whipped again.

It appeared he had done it fast enough, as Eggman did not whip him again, but instead, motioned for him to follow. Inwardly, Sonic groaned. Another new torture. _Where is he getting all these ideas from? _Sonic simply plodded after him, the robot bringing up the rear as they exited the torture room. To his surprise, they came to a room with a cell nearly identical to his.

"I decided to move you a bit closer to me. You know, extra security in case you get any ideas. Hope you don't mind, rodent." Eggman smirked, opening the door of the cage. Sonic glanced at Eggman, then the cage door, behind him at the robot, back at the door, at Eggman again, and crossed his arms. Universal body language for, _"Yeah right, Jack."_

In retrospect, it probably wasn't the smartest move to make, seeing as Eggman was obviously not in the mood for games, but it was pretty brave. Eggman's smirk disappeared faster than Sonic could run, growling to himself.

"I do _not _have the patience for this!" In one motion he stepped forward, grabbed Sonic by the nape of the neck, pulled him physically into the chamber, shutting the door behind him and throwing him to the ground in the process.

Sonic leapt to his feet, outraged, and rightfully so. Being held by the nape of the neck, of course, started with feral animals in the wild who used the method to carry their young easily. The creatures evolved, but for whatever reason, kept the extra skin on the young and the reflex to remain still while the skin was being pulled. While still there, ever since such parenting started holding sapients by the scruff of their neck has been an action reserved purely for parents holding their children; anyone else doing so was considered an unforgivable breach in protocol.

Eggman did not seem to care much about his deplorable act of familiarity, though, as he calmly sat down at the table, interestedly watching Sonic grab the bars in place of his neck and attempt to speak. To be honest, Sonic considered such a thing low even for Eggman, and wasn't even sure _where_ to begin telling him off for it.

He was saved the trouble, however, as Eggman spoke. "Seeing as I did just spend the past six hours punishing you merely for existing, I think it wise to mind your manners around me. Believe me, we haven't even begun your discipline yet. You think starving you in a cell for a week and forcing you outside into the arctic cold is bad? Just you wait, Hedgehog, you'll be begging me for mercy in a matter of days."

Sonic glared back, not intimidated in the least. "Yeah, right. I can take anything you have to throw at me. I'm not scared of you, Eggman. And I will find a way out, just you wait."

Eggman stood up slowly. "Oh, I'm not afraid of that, Sonic."

Sonic's glare softened, confused by the use of his real name and the actual sentence itself. Eggman turned and walked over to the wall furthest from the door. "Come over here, rodent."

Sonic reluctantly obeyed, curious as to what the doctor was getting at. Eggman pulled a remote out of one of his various pockets hidden on his person and pressed a button. Sonic started as the entire wall opened to reveal a floor-to-ceiling window portraying the bleak landscape outside. Amazed, he stepped forward until he and Eggman might have been standing side by side if not for the bars of his cage. He took no notice.

"Look out here. What do you see?"

It took Sonic a few moments to realize the question was not rhetorical, and blinked. "Um...nothing really."

"Exactly, rodent. Exactly. Nothing. All we have here, rodent, is this base and then…nothing at all. Just miles and miles of empty snow and ice and land no one, not even God, cares about. You could run, you know. I did you a favor before. I brought you back. You say 'recaptured,' I say 'saved,' but in the end, it was the same thing. You run away from me now, rodent, and I won't lift a finger to bring you back. You run, and it'll be the last thing you ever do, because no one else is out here."

His speech now finished, he settled back into his chair, leaving the window open. "Now then. I do hope you don't mind, rodent, but I do have other things to do besides entertain you all day. However, I do think I can spare the time…" Sonic was no longer listening. His attention was focused on a vaguely familiar scent getting closer and closer down the halls. It smelt just like…_Oh, come on. _Sonic thought, glancing at Eggman. He had stopped talking, a look of anticipation on his face. _Come on, _Sonic tried to kid himself as the smell became undeniably what he had suspected from the outset. _Even Eggman's not _that _cruel…_

But it appeared he was, as the robots entered carrying several large items. They set them all down in front of Eggman and opened the trays. And Sonic nearly moaned out load as he was forced to accept the items on said trays.

Chili dogs. Cranberries. Hamburgers, mashed potatoes with gravy. Shrimp, nice and buttery. Sausages, and waffles with Cherries and whipped cream on top. Swedish crepes with strawberries. Eggs with ham and cheese. Steak, cooked the perfect way so that it was well cooked on the outside, but still juicy with a pink ring on the inside, and so smelling so wonderful Sonic could practically have eaten the air. Beans and rice, not the disgusting milky kind, but the delicious Mexican variety. And then for dessert-Oh! Ice cream, chocolate cake, apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies!

All of Sonic's favorite foods.

And Eggman was going to eat it all.

Right in front of him.

* * *

"Alright, Tails, we're ready to go!" Cream called from the cockpit of the Tornado, where she had been prepping the plane for flight for almost 15 minutes. Tails could have done it in less than three minutes, but he was busy making a few modifications to the device they had found a while ago. Cream still had yet to understand why the device would help them, but she knew it would somehow. After all, Tails' name _was _Miles Tails Prower. Tails wouldn't lie about something like that.

"Good! Just start her up and get in the backseat! I'm just about done over here!"

Cream obeyed, pressing the ignition button before crawling over to the seat behind it and pulling Cheese into her lap. Tails ran up from where he was, toting a machine that looked quite a bit different than it had 20 minutes ago. Cream blinked at it as Tails hoisted it into the front seat, attached it to a waiting port, and turned it on. Almost immediately, from what Cream could see, the screen turned to a confusing pattern of waves and squiggles.

It wasn't until they were high up in the air until Cream finally asked, "So what is that invention going to do, Tails?"

Tails blinked and looked up from his seat, having been lost in thought. "Wha- oh, right! Well, it starts like this: When me and Sonic were having our picnic together, I gave him a ring as a present. But it wasn't an ordinary ring; it's actually an ionic defragulator that I made a long time ago. I had completely forgotten about that before."

"Alright…but what does that have to do with this device, and finding Sonic?"

"Simple. Ionic defragulators are very special pieces of equipment that work on a subatomic level to capture radiated ions created during the beta stage of d- Well, science lesson aside, it's a very special machine. So special, in fact, that only a few exist in the world, and they are all unique. They all give off a unique… 'Aura,' sort of. And with the modifications made to my energy leak searcher, we'll be able to find that aura, home in on it, and, since Sonic was wearing it on his finger when it happened…"

"The ring will lead us right to him! Oh, Tails, you're a genius!" Cream cried, clapping her hands together delightedly.

Tails blushed at the girl's praise. "Uh, well, not…not really, I mean, …Uh, yeah, I guess…"

Cheese sounded so overjoyed at the prospect of finding Sonic after all this time, he practically leapt out of Cream's lap. "Ah! Cheese! You've gotta be wearing a seat belt! Get back here!"

Tails calmly continued working on calibrating the machine, though he did spare a smile for the troublemakers in the back. Soon, everything will be right again. _After we take care of the jerk who took Sonic in the first place, that is._

Tails could only smile as he caught the ring's reading and angled his plane north, following it.

"So where are we going, Tails?"

"Judging by what the machine said, it's very far north, but no real worries."

"You're right. It's not like someone would be crazy enough to bring Sonic way, way, way far to Santa!"

"Of course not, Cream."

"Chao Chao!"

* * *

**Cream, you will regret tempting fate like that someday. Oh well, you're so adorable it more than makes up for it. So what do you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Tell me! Ask and ye shall recieve; I did make this longer, but no word yet on how chapter 10 is going to be. We could have another chapter 3 length…Kidding! Now because you don't want me to become sad and depressed, how about a review for my nice empty inbox?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright. New pattern noticed. Review department=excellent. I feel great listening to your words of advice, constructive critisism, and general kind words. Thank you. Update department=not so great. Sorry 'bout that guys...but on the bright side, next week is spring break for me, meaning a well-deserved rest from the stress of school...right after we take our unit tests in Science, Geometry, Health, and Spanish, coupled with the fact that we have a quiz every day this week in English....-shudders- I've never felt so busy before....**

* * *

As Tails sat in the cockpit of the Tornado flying, Cream suddenly had an idea. "Hey Tails?"

"Yes, Cream?" The fox asked, more focused on the radar than anything else.

"Why don't we just teleport to where the ring is?"

Tails blinked a minute, then looked up. "Well, you see Cream, it appears that the ring is within the distance of affect of the Aurora Borealis."

Cream stared. "The what?"

"The Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights?"

Understanding hit her. "Oh. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, Cream, do you know what the Northern Lights are?"

"Chao Chao!"

Cream clapped her hands. "That's right, they're very pretty!"

"Heh, I guess so. What I mean is how are they made? Simply put, energy from the sun comes in waves of sunlight called the Solar Wind."

"Oooh, Solar Wind. Pretty name."

"Yes. And the Solar Wind comes and, well, basically charges up the air, and makes it glow. However, this has a side effect with Chaos Emeralds, that with only one emerald in your possession, you can't teleport at all, because the Solar Wind will interfere and "block" it." Tails explained, finger quoting "block" for emphasis. "So in order to teleport, you'd need at least two emeralds: one for negating the Aurora Borealis, and one to actually teleport with. You might actually need more, depending on how big the object you want to teleport is. We only have one installed in the tornado."

"Oh, I see! Ok then, we'll just fly there!"

Tails simply nodded, cruising on autopilot as he worked with his new gadget to pinpoint the source of the signal radiating from Sonic's ring on his satellite image maps. When he finally did pinpoint it, he simply sat back and stared for a full ten seconds before it occurred to him to double-check. _Surely this is some kind of mistake…_ Not so. After recalculating everything, it seemed that this was truly the signal's origin.

"Uh..Hey Cream?" Tails ventured, deciding to go with the facts as if they were completely normal.

"Yes, Tails? What is it?"

"…Remember when you said no one could take Sonic all the way to Santa Claus?"

* * *

Sonic sat upon the bed at the back of the cell, watching Eggman calmly eat every last morsel on all the plates. Eggman finished a plate that had once held steak, and slowly, enjoying what he was doing, set to work on the next plate, this one offering chili dogs, Sonic's all-time favorite. He may or may not have noticed, but at this Sonic pulled his legs up against his empty stomach, stifling a soft moan of longing somewhere in his throat.

Eggman had, of course, not chosen to eat in silence. That would have defeated the purpose of the exercise. Instead, he kept a constant conversation going with the hedgehog, as if they were two friends meeting for dinner at a restaurant somewhere. Perhaps "conversation" wasn't the best word, as Sonic had opted not to speak for most of the meal, not trusting his own voice to hide his envy.

Eggman took a bite out of the first chili dog, paused to swallow, and then spoke. "These really _are _delicious. I can see why you have such a taste for them."

Sonic continued to stay silent, but his eyes watched every move the doctor made with a hunger that looked almost feral in the light.

It seemed this torture could have continued for hours, but fortunately for Sonic, a robot saw fit to enter at that very second and request the doctor head immediately for the control room. For a moment Eggman paused, torn between investigating the matter and deriving more pleasure from watching Sonic suffer, before a grin crossed his face.

"Alright, but don't clean up this until I tell you to."

And with that, he left, leaving what was left of the meal just centimeters beyond Sonic's reach.

Eggman traversed the halls to his control room, a very specially designed room indeed. The walls were made of the same reinforcement alloys as Sonic's cell, and there were no windows. When lockdown was initiated, a failsafe ensured that in the event of a hack, no one, not even Eggman, could disengage it. Computer banks lined every wall, with droids designed for the sole purpose of operating them standing by. In other words, Eggman was in his twisted utopia.

As he settled down into his chair, he snapped to the assembled workers, "Alright! What was so important you had to interrupt my lunch with the hedgehog?"

One of the droids managed in a more soft tone than their combat counterparts, "Master, priority number 2, the fox Tails, has been headed our way."

Eggman slammed his fist down on the armrest. "So! What the devil are you getting at? The fox is always on the move. Do you really think that it matters if he happens to be heading north? He has no clue as to our location!"

"But master, he's been heading in this direction for almost 40 minutes, and he is already over the ocean."

There was silence for a few minutes as Eggman contemplated this fact. Then… "Alright. Ready the ammunition. Be prepared for action. And I think Sonic has had a long enough break. Take him to the room I specified to you earlier. If and when the fox comes knocking, we'll be ready for him."

* * *

When the plane gave an alert that they were within visual distance of the signals origin, the trio (after Tails explained to Cream what "visual distance" meant) pressed up against the windows while Tails piloted the craft directly overhead, banking to get a better look. Once they did, they simply stared. To be honest, the thing beneath them largely resembled a military installation, with a collection of small buildings all grouped around a larger building, and surrounded by a fence topped with what looked like barbed wire.

At first Tails was stumped-until he caught sight of the signature "Eggman" logo painted on one of the buildings. Tails grit his teeth. "Eggman." He hissed, ears laid back against his head.

He rechecked the gadget, then pointed to an extension of the larger building, most likely the center of operations. "That's where the ring is," He said, careful not to say "Sonic." Either Sonic or his body lay in one of the rooms there.

They were so intent upon locating Sonic, they didn't notice the missile headed towards them until it was almost too late. Suddenly Tails caught sight of a steam tails from the warhead and snapped to action, pulling on a lever to accelerate, hard. Instantly the plane leapt up from less than 10 miles an hour to over 150, and still climbing. The missile was far outclassed, but not for long. Apparently the homing variety, it also began to gain speed, as an identical one joined it on its left, followed by another on its right.

"D'Arvit!" Tails hissed, using a curse word he had heard from Sonic once. "Cream, hang on tight!"

The young rabbit needed no further coaching, already grabbing Cheese and holding him tightly like a stuffed doll as she watched Tails work his magic.

First Tails dived and pulled up along the snowy ground away from the base, cooling the engines and making it difficult for the heat seekers to track him. He approached an outcropping of ice with alarming speed, and waited until the very last second before swerving up. An ear-shattering boom behind him assured him one of the missiles was now neutralized. However, soon the other two emerged on his trail.

Inside the cockpit, Tails tensed. This would take some tricks he'd learned from Sonic. Swiftly, he pulled around back towards the base, and gunned the throttle even more. The missiles had no choice but to react be speeding up more. Right as he was passing over the base again, he slowed down, and let the missiles advance on him. If he was right…

The fox was absolutely right, as the two missiles tried to attack at the same time, each attempting to occupy the same place. The result was a harmless, albeit terribly loud, explosion almost 40 feet from the Tornado.

Tails, Cream and Cheese whooped and cheered as pieces of shrapnel harmlessly pattered against the plane's armor. However, it seemed that their celebration was to be short lived, as Tails caught sight of an object moving straight up from a hidden missile silo. In total fairness, he had but one second exactly to swerve away. Hopeless.

The missile slammed into the wing, igniting almost 300 pounds of oxidizer, followed by an explosion of the rest of the fuel in stored in the missile. To the children in the cockpit, "explosion" was hardly the right word for it. "Raging, almost solid wave of sound and heat that practically ripped the entire plane up like paper" would have been their description of the event.

The impact drove all three against the window, which shattered and threw the two sapients out of the way, actually saving the children's lives as the rest of the Tornado's engine ignited and exploded as well, narrowly missing them. With a horrible crash, they both landed on the same roof, slick with ice. Tails fought with all his might to stay with Cream, but a piece of what once was the Tornado cracked him over the head, and he fell back, sliding down the roof before falling and landing in a huge pile of snow. Tails gave one last gasp of shock and pain, and fainted. The last thing he remembered hearing was a scream from Cream…

Cream cried out in wild abandon as she slipped down the opposite side of the building and landed up on a large snowdrift on her ankle. Hard. She yelled again as her ankle gave way, bringing her to her knees. There was no time to waste, Cheese knew as he flew to his master's side and grabbed and tugged on her wrist, trying to pull her to her feet, chattering endlessly. The cause of his panic was all too clear as the flaming wreckage of the belly of the plane crashed down on the roof, sliding the way Cream had come.

With her friend's assistance, she pulled herself to her feet and dashed away just as the skeleton smashed into where she had been kneeling before. Sprained ankle ignored but not forgotten, she sprinted towards a makeshift shelter, a "cave" in the ice and snow where the roof had prevented it from piling along the wall.

As she reached it, she dove inside to the very back, and curled into a ball, whimpering and holding Cheese.

She had once heard her mother tell her that snow muffles sound, and she couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever see Momma again. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of the fact that she had never even said goodbye.

Silently, not daring to speak aloud lest the robots outside her cave find her, she pulled herself to her knees and said the only prayers she knew. It wasn't perfect, but she hoped God would get the message. _Now I lay me down to sleep… _Poor Tails. Please, Lord, let him be alright. _I pray the Lord my soul to keep…_ Her mother hadn't liked Cream using this version of the children's prayer as she thought it might give her daughter nightmares, but Cream found it more suitable tonight. _And if I die before I wake,_

_I pray the Lord my soul to take._

* * *

Sonic pressed up against his new set of restraints, leather straps tightened against a cold steel examination table. A desk lay to his right, in full view, proudly displaying a set of surgical tools, including a hypodermic syringe and several scalpels in various sizes.

Sonic grimaced. It was a classic interrogator's trick. Put up a few "toys" around where the prisoner was and give him some time to think about what was coming. Sonic had a vivid imagination. He could already think of plenty of ways to inflict pain with a scalpel and an injection needle. A door opened in front of him.

_Speak of the devil…_

Sonic fought to keep a straight face as Eggman approached, terror already growing. He was already in a good mood, as Sonic could tell from the wide grin on his face. Eggman stopped just a few paces away.

"Well, did you enjoy lunch? It was quite delicious, no?"

Sonic kept quiet. There was something about that smile that told of something he didn't know, and probably didn't want to know.

"You might actually stay that way, you know."

Sonic blinked, confused. "What? Stay what way?"

"There you go. All silent like that. It's no fun with a quiet prisoner. Much better when they start begging. As you _would _be doing by now, but…" He trailed off teasingly.

Sonic hesitated, apprehensive. "But…?"

"But I'm in much too good a mood right now. You see, my worst enemy is at my mercy, and his brother is…well, no longer a problem." At this, his madman's smile seemed almost demonic as Sonic viewed him in a whole new light.

"Wha-what!?!"

"So sorry about the little girl, but it can't be helped. After all, she ended up with _the wrong sort._ Nothing that can be done for her, or either of them, I'm afraid."

"Eggman!" Sonic cried out, apparently having found his voice. "_What _did you do?"

"Hmm…You're rather stressed out, rodent. Maybe I should leave you alone a bit, let you take a break and get comfortable. After all, we do have all the time in the world to torture you…" He turned to leave.

"Eggman! Get back here! Tell me what happened! What did you _do_! Eggman!"

But it was too late. Eggman had already shut the door on him. A sheer wave of agony washed over him. _This _was truly the worst yet. Worse than being out in the cold, worse than being whipped, worse than salt water, even worse than "lunch." This was the worst, letting him believe his friends were dead, and it was perhaps that that managed what the others could not do. A scream forced its way from Sonic's mouth, a scream from the endless pain, and loneliness, and simply agony that had been bottled up the whole time he had been here.

He opened his mouth and screamed until he ran out of breath to scream with, and then gasped a few times and screamed again. And when this was done, again. And again. Over and over, so that the echoes faded into one another and made one giant blank amount of time for Sonic, just over and over, mindlessly yelling and pausing to draw breath and yelling some more. Later he would have no idea how long he sat there screaming, but there was one who knew. One who could still hear the screams haunting him as he traversed down the long hallway to the control room, listening to the echoes. Eggman shuddered. Even he could barely stand hearing them. For a moment a twinge of guilt went through him, and then he pressed a button by the door, shutting it and soundproofing the room. There. Better. Now to organize a crew to locate the bodies. He could scarcely imagine the look on Sonic's face when he presented them to him.

After all, it wasn't like anything could have escaped that blast…could it?

* * *

**Yes, just to make absolutely sure I stay on your story alert lists, now Tails, Cream and Cheese are trapped in the Arctic with no way out either, along with the fact that everyone doesn't know for sure if anyone else is alive. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Also, the inspiration for Cream's hiding spot this chapter goes to my snow retreat, when a (feral) rabbit ran inside a cave made from the snow piling up against the roof. And no, none of us had missiles or explosives with us. See you all next time, and let's see some reviews! TC, out! **

**P.S. I just noticed, TC can actually stand for tiacat, too!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright, I have an excuse! Well, I always have an excuse but...alright, I don't really have an excuse. You see, I got Pokemon SoulSilver the other day and...yeah, woke up on Thursday with a thought something akin to, "Holy Crud, I have fanfiction to write!" So, yeah, that's all. And in reply to a review from Sonic109, I haveno idea when the next chapter will come out, as I don't have deadlines for them. I don't think I could keep any deadlines I make, so to those who actually have them and keep them, You're amazing, I salute you. You're better than me. Well, technically speaking, most authors on here are better than me, deadlines or no. Anyway, I actually had this a bit longer, but halfway through what would have been the end of this chapter and is now the middle of Chapter 12 I realized I had to move some stuff over to Chapter 12 or it would be, like, poof, it's done. It was a tough decision to scrap all that work, but in the end, I'd rather have 2 chapters of consistant length than one long and one short chapter. Alright, I try to say something a little bit different than just "Review!" every time, but....Review!**

* * *

Eggman blinked awake from sleep, wondering what on earth could have woken him up. Glancing around his personal quarters, he saw nothing out of place….from the clock near his bed, it was a little past midnight, so simply sleeping too long was out ruled….then what was it that was different? He couldn't hear anything-oh. That was it.

Walking out of the room where a bank of monitors stood for convenience, he glanced at the monitor that showed where Sonic's "bed" was. Yes. That was it. The hedgehog had finally fallen silent. His head was bowed, so it was impossible to tell if he was asleep or not, but not a single sound escaped his lips. It was the silence of him finally stopping after the constant cries that had awoken the doctor.

For a moment, he considered getting him up just for the heck of it, and then dismissed it. He didn't feel like torturing the hedgehog this morning, most likely because he was still tired himself. With a shrug, he turned to leave and go back to bed, but one last idea hit him.

Turning back to the monitors, he held down a button for the speaker and said, "You could have stopped this, you know."

Perhaps it was the imperfect quality of the monitors, perhaps the low lighting in the room he was in, but when Sonic raised his head, Eggman noticed some suspicious streaks running down his cheeks. He didn't wait to see what the hedgehog would say, simply left the monitors and returned to his bedroom. Soon, silence reined throughout the entire base again. Well, almost silence…

* * *

It was almost midnight before Cream plucked up the courage to stick her head out the entrance of the cave, shivering in the cold. For a minute, she glanced back and forth, searching for any sign of movement, before slowly climbing out and walking over to where the wreckage of the Tornado stood, clinging to Cheese. Glancing at it, she tried to determine if any part of it could fly. Tails had fixed it many times before, but she had a feeling by glancing at the burned skeleton that there was no more hope for the poor plane.

"Now what are we going to do, Cheese?"

"Chao, Chao..."

Gazing into the wreckage, Cream caught sight of a familiar object, burnt but miraculously still whole even after its trip down the roof. Cream started.

"Is that…?"

Without waiting to complete her sentence she pulled herself over a bar and quickly ran over to where the object was.

"It is! Cheese, it's Tails' toolbox! Oh, can you believe our luck? Maybe Tails can do something!"

She grasped the toolbox by the handle and pulled, standing up only to come face to face with a robot less than a foot away.

Cream's breath caught somewhere in her throat. The robot did nothing. Cream began to shake as she waited for it to send a blow that would end her life. The robot still made no sound. It was then that she realized something was odd about this robot. Its eyes were cold and dead, and they didn't glow like the other models she had seen. She realized what this meant, and relaxed a bit. The robot was deactivated. Carefully, she reached up and moved it aside. It bent without resistance, flopping over like a rag doll.

Looking a little more closely, Cream saw there were actually more of the robots all over, the same color as the wreck, making it hard to see them unless one knew they were there. And all of them were deactivated. _How odd._ She thought to herself. _It looks like they were in the middle of a job. Why would they all just switch off like that? _

She shook her head, unable to find the answer, and skirted around the side of the building where she had seen Tails fall over.

"A bit funny, isn't it, that there hasn't been any alarms or anything?" she whispered to Cheese. "Maybe our luck is starting to turn."

"Chao. Chao chao." Came the reply back.

Carefully, the duo made their way across, where a familiar lump of yellow fur lay in a heap under the roof. In less than a second, Cream was there, shaking him awake and telling him of her discoveries. Tails was silent until she was finished. Then…

"Alright. I think I have an idea. Eggman is a genius, there's no way he'd be stupid enough to set up a base in the harshest place on the planet without some way to save his skin if something goes wrong. So all we have to do is find his getaway and take it ourselves once we find Sonic, and then we'll be safe."

Cream nodded and spoke. "That sounds like a plan, but there's just one thing. How do we find Sonic?"

Tails got a determined look on his face again. "I have a plan for that too."

* * *

Unknown to Cream, there were actually alarms in the outside of the base. A camera located in a cave formed by snow near the wreckage of the tornado, several heat sensors located all over the side of the building, and a pressure sensor all along the area between the buildings. Despite all this, not a sound came from any one of the multiple computers running this state-of-the-art security system, and Eggman remained completely unaware of the danger building under his bulbous nose the whole night through.

He was already preoccupied preparing a new activity for Sonic, for once in his life choosing to skip breakfast in favor of putting last minute touches on the surprise for him. A mistake, as it turned out.

When he finally came in to awaken Sonic, the hedgehog didn't say a word, simply followed Eggman obediently through the halls into yet another room.

Finally when they had reached their destination, Eggman spoke. "Well, here we are. I do hope you're feeling well enough to take this little test I've prepared for you."

A flicker of life sparked in the hedgehog's eyes. "A test, huh? Well, I'm more than happy to show off for you. Just don't be too surprised when I break your toys."

Eggman matched his competitive tone. "Oh, I wouldn't get cocky, Sonic. But I'm glad to hear you're feeling up to this. You see, my friend has been _dying _to see you again."

As he said this, he slowly retreated backwards until he had stepped into a different room, the wall made of some sort of thick glass that allowed for an excellent view, but Sonic doubted he could break it if he needed to. The hedgehog suspiciously watched him go, ready for any tricks. Once the door had sealed and Eggman was sure he was safe, he pointed at something behind Sonic's shoulder.

Sonic followed the finger and grimaced, getting into a battle stance. "Metal." Was all he said.

Sonic's robotic duplicate stood a few feet away, red eyes glowing evilly. "Sonic the Hedgehog." Came the complicated series of beeps and clicks that could only loosely be called language.

"So now we know each other's names. How've you been? Still sore over the last beating I gave you?"

"Not nearly as bad as I hear you have been." If it was possible for a robot without a mouth to smirk, Metal Sonic was now. "How are Tails and Cream?"

Sonic growled lowly at the mention of his friends now lost to him. With his eyes locked on Metal, he leapt forward at the same instant his metallic double activated his main engine. The two clashed in midair, and the battle began.

* * *

Tails worked frantically in Eggman's workshop, ignoring the weapons of mass destruction that lined the walls. The three of them had been lucky enough to find an open air duct and wasted no time in sneaking in, positive an alarm was to be tripped at any moment; their luck had held, and they made it safely to the room in one piece.

Tails had to admit, it was a bit uncomfortable working in Eggman's lab. An inventor himself, he knew exactly how he would feel if someone used his lab without permission. Nevertheless, desperate times called for desperate measures. If Sonic had any hope, it would be with Tails and whatever Tails could come up with. Cream and Cheese had gone, looking for a bank of security monitors with which they could track Sonic and prepare an escape route.

Suddenly Tails heard Cream cry out from the next room, "Tails! Come here! I found something!"

Tails dropped his project and hurried into the room. Cream looked up from a computer she appeared to be reading from. "Tails, I found the monitors but they're all offline. But come here and look at this!"

Tails growled in frustration. "It must be a security thing! We'll never-!"

"Tails, just look at this!"

Tails was surprised. Cream had actually interrupted someone on purpose. This must be important. He glanced over her shoulder and gaped at what he read.

"This must be his journal."

"It is! Oh, and look what he's keeping records of! Mr. Sonic's imprisonment!"

"There's nothing but page after page of what he's done and planning to do… and him theorizing about the best way to break him…" Tails said with a shudder, simultaneously recoiling in horror and scrolling with the mouse to read more. "Look at this! He's starving him, He's…._whipped _him and poured saltwater on the cuts…He's left him out in the cold _so long_…..he's even eaten right in front of him…"

"Stop, oh, stop! I'm gonna get nightmares!"

"Sonic been having a nightmare all this time- a real one. This is awful."

"It gets worse! Look what's lined up for today!" she pointed a shaking finger at the line of text for today.

**After taking forever completing repairs, Metal Sonic is finally operational again. And yet, I feel the need to send him into battle already. I do believe it would make for a nice match. The poor boy is so overwhelmed thinking his dear friends are gone he'll be no match for Metal Sonic's cold logic. I do believe it would be sufficient for today, but in the unlikely event he wins the fight, I think I will proceed with yesterday's agenda and perform surgery while he is fully conscious. I believe it would be best to gag him first, as the screams could trip me up a bit…**

"Stop…" Cream whispered, her face pale with imagining the kind of horrors that awaited her best friend. "Stop…"

Tails stopped, visibly shaken as well. "This…this is awful. A complete nightmare. Can you imagine, if I hadn't given Sonic that ring…If I hadn't figured out how to track him….if we never found him and he stayed here… my word, we've gotta get him away from here. And how dare he! Using our supposed deaths as a way to hurt Sonic even more! It says here he was screaming all night long! Rrrg! Eggman, you've crossed the line now! Cream, I'm almost done. See if you can find what room they're in so we can get Sonic and help him, now!"

Cream nodded. "Right!"

_Hang on, Sonic. We're coming for you_.


	12. Chapter 12

**I think I misspelled "relitivly" but it's not showing up on spell check, so I'll leave it that way unless I can find the correct spelling. Oh, and if any super-amazing grammatists are reading this, does anyone know the difference between effect and affect? It occoured to me that I have _no _idea. Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter was so late, but my cousin Ashlee died in an accident just a few days ago and getting back to normal is hard. Luckily, I know she's in a better place, she wouldn't want us to make wrecks of ourselves over her, she'd want us to move on for her sake, all that good stuff. Anyway, if you could pray for her, that would be great, and thank you. So. The chapter. Originally, you were going to have to wait even longer, but a certain review that came out of nowhere changed that. I was going to type up Chapter 12 _and _13 before uploading either, but I just got this wierd feeling today I needed to update. Maybe it's a premontition. Maybe it's a cold coming on. However! Do _not _come crying to me if Chapter 13 is _this_ long, and you wanted it _that _long! You asked for it! And, before I leave, reveiws make the world go 'round! It's perfectly fine to write a reveiw no matter how long ago the story was written. If someone, like, three years from now stumbles upon this story (wince), and wants to write a reveiw, you will make an 18-year-old girl's day. So please! Please review.**

* * *

Sonic slammed into the ground so hard he thought for sure his bones would crack. Slowly, he crawled back up to his feet. Nope. No broken bones. That meant no excuses for losing. Recklessly, he charged Metal Sonic and was immediately stopped by his claws digging into his chest. He hung there a minute, struggling, before being thrown almost all the way across the room. He put a hand to his newest injury, trying to stop the blood flow, before hauling himself back up.

Metal Sonic walked with the cool, slow confidence of a person who knew they were in complete control. Sonic had felt the hunger before, but he hadn't truly understood the extent of malnourishment before trying to go into battle this hungry. This was no threat. Metal was the cat and he was the mouse. To be honest, Metal would have left him alone by now if his orders hadn't clearly stated he was to fight until Sonic could no longer stand. He glanced at his adversary now.

Sonic was weak. There was no doubt to any onlooker. He was so starved one could clearly count the ribs sticking out against his pale, sickly fur, and his eyes were dim and black. He struggled to his feet with such an effort, Metal's A.I. spent quite some time considering why he didn't simply surrender and spare himself some pain. Eventually it came to the conclusion the thought hadn't occurred to Sonic.

"Surrender, Sonic the Hedgehog. Spare yourself the pain. Give up and maybe the doctor will have mercy on you." To an onlooker, this might have sounded like a threat, but if Metal were capable of imitating different tones of voice, he would have actually sounded encouraging, almost beseeching.

Sonic knew this, but still found rage in the words themselves. "Never!" he growled, his voice hoarse.

He charged again, and this time Metal simply stepped aside, watching as his own momentum brought him to the ground. A shadow loomed over his shoulder. It was Metal. "If you won't surrender, at least die quickly and maybe you won't' be as humiliated and hurt." His tone grew quieter. "Your friends never felt any pain."

Sonic's eyes flashed fire. With the impossible speed he was known for, he drove himself up against Metal's body, the force of it enough to puncture slightly the armor on his metallic twin with his quills, before whirling around and smashing his elbow up against his optics. He then proceeded to whip blow after blow against the robot, the thing unable to compute how he was capable of such a feat.

Sonic drove a kick into the main engine, damaging it and sending him flying. Sonic followed, leaping towards it like a big cat after a deer. Metal never stood a chance of blocking it. His feet slammed down and he kneeled against the robot's chest, fist overhead and swinging down. Metal grabbed it, holding it above his head and wrestling with him, trying to find some leverage with which to throw him off. The robot pulled his leg underneath the organic's chest, and pushed him off, swinging and landing a blow on his head as he did so.

Sonic landed on his feet, head ringing, vision clouding, but still able to keep one thought in his head: _fight or die. _There was no other option. Metal leapt up, ready to attack again…

And in that second, several things happened that Sonic's dizzied head couldn't make sense of. He heard a shout from the room where Eggman had been watching, Metal fizzed and sparked and his optics turned off, and Sonic began to hallucinate again. He could swear that Tails and Cream were right there, and Tails was holding some kind of device that had deactivated Metal Sonic. Patiently, he waited for his head to clear and his mind to banish this hallucination again, but even as everything else returned to normal, the two did not disappear. Tails eyes and his seemed locked for what felt like an eternity.

And then the spell was broken, and they were really there.

Sonic whooped and hugged Tails, then turned and hugged Cream, then hugged them both in a group hug. "How-? Where-? It's not-! It's just not even possi-!"

Full sentences were beyond him now. Thankfully, the two understood. "We survived the crash, but Tails was knocked out and we got separated. Mr. Sonic, I'm _so _sorry! We read Doctor Eggman's diary, and-!"

"It was just awful, you never deserved-!"

"Mr. Sonic-!"

"Ok, ok!" Sonic raised his arms up as if defending himself. "Gimme the details later, you guys! For now, how do we get out of here, and how do we kick Eggman's butt for this?"

Tails grinned. "Come on, I'll show you!"

* * *

Eggman hurried though the halls of his base. Hopefully those three meddling bratswould be too busy catching up on the news to catch up with _him. _And to think, it had been so perfectly planned out, too! How on earth had that blasted fox outsmarted him? It's true, the fox was almost his equal in terms of brainpower, but how _had _he tracked him?

No matter. He rushed into his control room, aiming for the computer. Typing as quickly as possible, he activated his security feature for an occasion such as this. How _had _that fox tracked him? He watched with tension as the alloys slid down in sheets, garage-door style. Only when the doors slid down completely and lock did he dare to breathe again. Now he was safe. There was nothing short of a class-six explosion that could break though, and even if the fox hacked him, there was no way he could lift the doors. He was safe.

He turned around, and met face-to-face with the recently freed hedgehog and his rescuers, all standing side by side, with Tails on Sonic's right and Cream on his left. For a moment all he could do was stare, open mouthed, at the three of them. Sonic had a grin on his face that, to Eggman, looked absolutely bone-chilling. "Um…Now Sonic….Y-you don't really want to hurt me…I-I mean, after all…"

He glanced around, looking at the computer, the locked door, _anything _that could save him from what he knew was coming. He found nothing. He had designed the system to ensure no one could get in or out. And no one could.

He turned back to Sonic, who was slowly beating his fist into the palm of his hand, a not-so-mysterious message to the fearful doctor.

Sonic broke the silence. "Take him down."

The three charged all at once.

* * *

Cheese, meanwhile, was not with the group, and instead had been sent on a much more important mission than revenge (although it could be said by the look on his face revenge, while less important, _was_ more satisfying to him). Instead, he wandered the hallways, heading back out into the cold to his destination: the robot factory located in a separate building a ways away from the command center.

His mission was simple: find and destroy (or at least try to incapacitate) the robots there and ensure their getaway was certain. No one had wanted to free Sonic, only to remain trapped in the base here. Cheese didn't have a watch, but chao have a natural perfect sense of time, an excellent thing to have when one is on a schedule.

Heading out the door, he found his way to the factory. Cheese could see sparks flying and hear loud, alien noises emanating from the building, and he hesitated. He loved Cream dearly, and did want to do all in his power to help her, but he also hated the sounds, sights and especially the smells coming from this place. Here was a place where monsters were born.

The loud clanking noises brought Cheese back to a time before his best friend Cream and her mother. A time before their caring ways. A time before love. A time when the monsters roamed free in the forest. A time when trees were cut down and killed for no reason, when old friends disappeared without a trace, and monsters became more and more common, and poison filled the skies. A time before Sonic.

He was brought before these monsters, nothing but a baby chao then, looking up into their cold, heartless eyes. Watching them chop down the trees around the colony and stain the pond with their putrid oil, and crying, begging them to stop. The monsters neither hearing nor answering, as his family was caught and stuffed into strange-smelling bags. Trying to fly with his pitiful wings, barely floating above the ground, moving nowhere. Suddenly shooting up into the air, but not on his own. Being hoisted up and thrust into a bag of his own. Panicking, unable to find an exit or a friendly sound. Thrashing erratically, and then accidentally finding the rip. Pushing himself out and falling, falling…..

Cheese shook himself as he came back to his senses. How much time had he wasted with that flashback? Only about 2 minutes, he figured. Still way too much. There's nothing to be afraid of. They'd all be deactivated, having not had an emergency to attend to. Nothing to be afraid of.

He threw open the door and flew inside, glancing around in the dim light. Chao weren't meant to be nocturnal, so his night vision was definitely not up to par. Squinting, he thought he could make out a light switch nearby, so he flew up and flicked it, instantly bathing the entire factory in light.

At first Cheese simply gaped at the sheer number of robots already assembled. They were everywhere, hanging on every wall like clothing in a department store. Cheese estimated that there were about 500 hooks on this wall alone, and around 6 to 7 robots on every hook. So that made around…? Cheese wasn't very good at math. Too many, he decided.

Turning his back on the already assembled robots and looking over the assembly lines responsible for such noise, he could see no sure fire way to- aha! There! Underneath a machine was a big red button covered with a glass case. By his experience, you weren't supposed to touch big red buttons, especially not ones in glass cases. Since this was Eggman's factory, that mean you _were, _right? The reasoning seemed sound to Cheese's chao logic, and he flew over, lifted the case, and pressed the button. Instantly, all machinery stopped where they were.

Cheese nodded to himself. There we go-

"**Lockdown sequence initiated. Now booting up."**

Cheese whirled around. What?

"**Warning! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"**

Cheese gulped audibly. Had he done that? He turned back to the button and pressed it repeatedly, hoping it would reverse the process. No such luck. He could only watch in horror as too many robots unhooked themselves off the walls and started to march towards him. He glanced around, looking for a saving grace, watching as sheets of metal slid down over every exit. Oh dear. He really was in deep, wasn't he? He backed up slowly, bumping into what looked like a control console. Maybe something on there could help him?

He glanced up and stopped. There was no point in him trying to stop them. There was no point in him trying anything now.

* * *

Eggman slammed against the wall in a manner remarkably similar to how Sonic had hit the floor less than ten minutes ago. It was amazing what some newfound hope could do to a person.

Sonic calmly stepped forward and placed a foot on Eggman's chest, pressing down hard. For the first time in well over two weeks, Sonic was feeling more and more like his cool, cocky self. Glancing down, it was relatively easy to see who was the victor in this fight, and Sonic was relishing it. He was finally getting payback for all the pain Eggman had given him. _Now if I could only have some food, everything would be perfect._

As it was, he was in no hurry to give up on beating Eggman, but fate seemed to have a different plan. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, a huge rumble echoed through the base, to be followed by a massive explosion.

Cream glanced up. "Cheese!"

The explosion was huge. It was evident in the fact that it pierced the sheets of metal that had previously covered the room. Eggman somehow found breath to gasp. "The lockdown! But that's not possible!"

In retrospect, he probably should have kept his mouth shut, as it reminded Sonic there was still someone to blame for this. Pressing down even harder with his foot, he snapped back, "Lots of things are possible right now."

The pierced metal sheets buckled, slamming hard against the ground and letting the sub-freezing air into the room. Random bits and pieces of items were strewn all over the floor and the three sapients in the room simply stared in the direction of the explosion. Sonic was the first to find his voice. "Did Cheese do that?"

"Chao are full of surprises."

"But not _those _kinds of surprises."

"Do you think he's alright, Mr. Sonic?"

"I dunno, Cream. But he's pretty tough. I'd put money on him even now."

Tails ran over to their makeshift exit and glanced back. "Come on, you guys! We have to leave, now!"

Sonic took a few steps forward, then hesitated. He _really _didn't want to leave Eggman alone. It wasn't just revenge (although revenge alone would have been plenty), he also didn't want Eggman to get away without repercussions. When Eggman crossed a line, Sonic usually ensured he knew it. He wanted to leave Eggman with a message: Don't you_ ever _try that again. To leave without doing so was, well, not right.

He considered this a minute, trying to decide the best thing to do. He was standing on something. Absently, he glanced down to see what it was, and his face slowly broke out in another evil smile. "Hey Tails?"

"Yes?"

Sonic didn't glance up from the thing that caught his interest. "How long would you say until Metal Sonic gets back online?"

The fox rolled his eyes up, thinking hard. "Well, with the spark in his systems…and the damage you did…A couple of hours, I think. Why?"

Eggman watched nervously from across the room as Sonic bent down and picked something metallic up off the ground. He turned towards him and revealed what he had been looking at all along.

It was a pair of handcuffs.

* * *

"C'mon! Run!" Came the yell as the trio hurried across the yard, where they had just finished chaining Eggman to a nearby bar as they made their escape. The same bar, coincidentally, as the one Sonic had been chained to for the first couple days of his capture.

"We're running!" Sonic called back. "_Where _are we running though?"

Tails pointed, getting words out between his heavy breathing. "Across the yard! There's a tunnel! Leads all the way to the coast! Shipyard! Submarine, primed and ready to go!"

Sonic's eyes widened considerably. "_Submarine?? _Uh, Tails? You know I don't do water!"

Tails just shook his head. "It's the only one that's operational! The others will take too long to prepare!"

Sonic sighed. "If I must, then. But we're doin' this _my _way! I haven't been allowed to stretch for who knows how long, so _hang on tight!_

Swiftly, he leaned over and scooped up Cream in his arms. The rabbit smiled and leaned in near to Sonic's face to protect herself from the worst of the wind. She was familiar with this. Tails, also knowing the routine, used his tails to propel himself into the air and held out his hand, which Sonic took as he sped by, towing the fox behind him.

The three shot through the tunnel at blazing speeds, propelled even faster by the conveyer belt built into the floor. _After all, you can hardly expect Old Blubber Chops to _walk _or anything terrible like that, _Sonic thought to himself with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

Inside of 20 seconds they were at the subterranean mooring, hurrying in through the door. Sonic let Tails and Cream down, and then glanced around to look for the right submarine. "There!" Tails cried, pointing at a good-sized middle one. Good-sized. Not necessarily good enough.

The trio headed for the sub, Tails almost on the gangplank that led up to it, when a whip-like thing whistled through the air, slamming down hard on the sub and cracking the armor. Tails barely had time to cry out before the submarine took another blow, this time damaging the engine and detonating it. What was left began to capsize and sink. Sonic, who had grabbed Tails and pulled him out of harm's way, stared hard at the water.

Tails blinked, trying to understand. What was that? Had the doctor gotten loose somehow and unleashed a torpedo? A vision of seeing a pale whip just before the sub's destruction flashed through his head. What had that been? Surely it wasn't the doctor's? Which would be worse? Suddenly he started and looked to the water. It looked like the sub was rising again! No... Tails frowned. What....?

All at once, the thing responsible for their escape's demise rose to the surface, shrieking evilly. The younger two gasped and stumbled back. Only Sonic remained, facing down the monstrosity with something like amusement, yes_, amusement _written on his face. He glanced up at the squid monster, noting the missing sixth arm, and smirked, naming it on the spot. "Hiya, Stumpy." He said. "Long time no see."


	13. Chapter 13

**Ah-ha! Ladies and Gentlemen, it's that time! Time to break out your end-of-story reviews! Yessir, the ship has sailed. That's all I have, and I must say, I guess it is longer than I expected. Well. Good to know. I have to admit, and everyone, you're all going to have to help me on this, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I mean, I was kinda going for an end-of-game, we-did-it-so-let's-party feel, but it feels weird. Maybe because the rest was so, like, intense. Tell me what you think about this. This is why I ask for reviews. And before _anybody _asks about this, I did go back and change a few things that were bugging me, like spelling and grammar errors, formatting issues, and using asterisks as thoughts in the first few chapters. Since I favor story consistency, the asterisks have gotta go. But _no, _I am _not _rewriting the whole thing. Dear Lord, I just got done with it, I don't want to go back and do it all over again! Anyway, I'm going on vacation to Mexico here in just a few days, and it's a family tradition to have a drink to honor/make fun of everyone who is not here right now. I want you to know, you will all be in my mind while I'm having that drink. So. No more. Everybody please read, review, and thank you for putting up with me these long 13 chapters! I had fun writing this, and I hope to write something new soon!**

* * *

A crash resounded throughout the base as long tentacles failed yet again to miss their mark, their owner instead forced to vent its fury in the form of another scream. Tails and Cream covered their ears and winced, the sound like nails on a chalkboard to them. Sonic just smirked.

Several more missed attempts were fired and hit the other battleships and submarines, their debris littering the water.

The squid shot tentacles ahead and behind of where Sonic was headed, hoping to let him run straight into his grip. Sonic didn't lose a step, simply slid on his knees for a brief instant and let inertia do all the work. "Alright, then, grown some brains, Stumpy?" Sonic laughed.

The creature shrieked again, as if it could actually understand Sonic was mocking it. It lifted itself almost completely clear of the water, dangling by a few deceptively thin yet strong tentacles. With a cry, it loosed all but three of the powerful arms and slammed them down on the ground in front of Sonic, unbalancing him, before shooting them towards him and managing to latch on to his chest. This time, the noise it made was of triumph, and began to pull him towards the edge of the mooring.

Sonic's cockiness immediately vanished with the first tug, as he had learned from their first encounter just how hard it was to break free once it got a grip. That, and he had no desire to go for another arctic swim. Sonic was no idiot - he knew he would not survive another exposure, especially since his chaos emerald had been confiscated soon after his recapture.

As the creature tugged on the spiny prey that had caused it so much agony before, it couldn't help but notice a fearful twitch, one that had been absent during its arrival, but now was present once it pulled him closer to the water. Despite its one-track mind, the creature managed to make a connection between the water and fear. It tugged harder.

Sonic's fear was growing. He was pulling with all his might, but the squid was stronger, and was pulling him steadily towards the water. Just when it seemed to Sonic there was no way out of another sub-freezing pool party, Tails and Cream both grabbed a hold of the tentacle attached to Sonic. The fox grinned. "Sorry, but we're not letting you _sucker_ him into this!"

With that, he quickly snapped the arm up and down like a whip, the wave he created traveled towards the squid, slamming against it and causing it to lose its grip on everything and plummet into the water. The splash it made washed up on shore and froze instantly.

Sonic turned to Tails. "'Sucker' me into it? I don't get it."

"Y'know, _sucker! _Like, he's a squid, so he has suckers on his arms, but also _sucker,_ like, sucker you into something?"

"...I still don't get it."

"Look, it's very simple-"

"Mr. Tails, Mr. Sonic! It's back!"

Both brothers turned in time to jump away as the tentacles of the creature once more began to attack. It seemed madder than ever. Sonic timed his chance perfectly, leaping up while its arms were poised for another slam and using them to bounce to the head. As he half kneeled in order to maintain balance on its thick, slippery skin, the creature raised its tentacles and made a grab for him. This time Sonic was ready for it. Swiftly, he grabbed onto one tentacle, wrapping it around another one and tying the new arm to a third. In moments, he had a grip on almost all the tentacles.

Sonic asked, "Calimari, anyone?"

Tails shook his head. "That was awful."

"It was better than yours!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Mr. Sonic! Be careful! _Look out!_"

"Huh? Wha-!"

Sonic whirled around to see an arm he wasn't holding snatch him up and lift him upside-down above its head, his arms pinned to his sides. Sonic grimaced. "I was only kidding about the calamari thing, but..."

His teeth clamped down hard on the tentacle and dug in deep. Sonic tried not to gag. The creature tasted like a salted tire. _About as rubbery as one too, _Sonic thought. _Nasty. _But, the unorthodox method worked, as the squid cried out and thrashed, trying to lose Sonic's hold on its arm.

The squid, being a sea creature, was slightly slimy; Sonic's teeth quickly lost their grip and he was flung against the wall.

_Now _the creature was angry. It had lost an arm to this spiny prey before, and now it had almost lost a suction cup. This prey was simply too much trouble to bother with. Time to take its meal and leave. Two tentacles wrapped around both of the creatures with two tails and pulled them towards it, the both of them making strange squeals in protest. One of the two tailed creatures was squealing at a higher pitch than the other. Perhaps it was a female.

Sonic sat up from the wall where he had hit his head. Feeling quite dizzy, he shook his head a couple times, trying to clear it. A scream from Cream and Tails brought him back to reality.

_"Sonic!"_

Sonic stumbled to his feet, assessing the situation even as he lunged forward at a blinding speed. His instinct would guide him better than his brain would anyway. Somehow he caught the two even as they were dragged forward, one of his arms wrapped around Tails' chest, the other around Cream's. He fought and pulled with all his might against the squid. There was more than his life at stake now. He could not afford to lose.

As he resisted the tug, one of his feet slipped on the ice by the shoreline made by the splash from earlier, and his feet shot out from under him, sliding towards the water. With a gasp, he tried to regain his footing, and braced one foot against a piece of metal wreckage. It groaned and slid ominously, but otherwise held. Beads of sweat slid down his head as he continued to fight the squid's incessant tugging. Annoyed, the creature jerked harder, and the wreckage slid a little. It tugged again, and this time it slid all the way. Sonic cried out one more time as he tried to find friction on the ice and the three shot towards the water that would be their doom...

Suddenly two arms closed around Sonic's chest and locked him in an iron grip, not yielding an inch to the creature. With a roar, the squid shot two more deadly tentacles, encompassing them all and threatening to pull them all into the ocean. A blinding white light shone all around them just as Sonic was aware of someone yelling two familiar words in his ear...

_Chaos Control!_

* * *

Sonic was the first to stir. With a groan, he sat up, holding his head. It felt like someone had grabbed his feet and ran him twice around the world at supersonic speeds, with tons of sharp turns and slamming into walls. As he waited for his head to clear, he was aware of feeling something he hadn't in a while.

The sun.

Blinking, he glanced up in surprise, gazing up at the golden orb that he had missed shining in the sky. His headache was disappearing fast and his freezing cold body was quickly warming to the sun's gentle rays. He simply sat there for a minute. A breeze, not the biting wind he had endured earlier, but a nice gentle breeze played across his fur. In short, everything felt completely normal. As if it had never happened. As if the whole thing had been one crazy dream.

He seemed to be sitting on a sandy beach to what looked like a lake. A tall mountain lay beyond. It looked like something out of a postcard, and yet Sonic had a feeling he knew the place. He just couldn't put his finger on it...

"Are you going to sit there and stare at the sky all day, Faker, or are you going to thank me?"

Sonic couldn't help but smile. "Shadow." He turned to face the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow was standing over him, a scowl on his face. Silently Sonic groaned. He knew what was coming. The only one who could be more long-winded with his lectures and scoldings was Eggman. Still. He _did_ technically just save him. "Why'd ya save us, Shadow? I mean, not that it's not _appreciated _or nothin', but I'm curious."

His tone was carefree and easygoing, just like the speedster himself, and it annoyed Shadow to no end. He bristled. "Because you're an _idiot _who can't save _himself, _that's why! You're such a fool as to go off on your own without giving anyone _any _warning, and then you go and get yourself _kidnapped,_ and send everyone in a freaking_ panic _over you, and make everybody try and help you because you _just can't help yourself! _And you!"

This was aimed at Tails, who just woke up. "Do _not _try and follow in this moron's footsteps! Do you have _any _idea how _stupid _it was to head to Eggman's base on your own? Did you think you were so clever you could outwit him? Or were you just not thinking straight because you couldn't live without your _precious older brother?" _Shadow demanded, putting as much scorn as he could into the phrase _precious older brother._

"Did you think it was just luck the base happened to explode and clear a way for you? Did you think your girlfriend's pathetic little pet could protect himself against an entire robot army? And do you really think you could have escaped the alarms for as long as you did if I had not specifically asked Rouge to hack the system for you? Well? Do you? If I hadn't been there to play chaperone for you all, you'd be _dead!_"

Sonic remained calm all throughout the lecture, not because of him liking anything the other hedgehog had said, but because he realized, despite Shadow's best efforts to hide it, his anger was born of fear, and not rage. Shadow had been worried, and that made Sonic feel better in a way, that he had cracked the hedgehog's shell just a little bit, if only on accident. "Hey." he said suddenly.

Shadow looked at him. "What?" He snapped.

Sonic winked. "I get what you're trying to say. Thanks, Shads."

"My name's not-!" Ebony growled. "I...I'm taking the emeralds, Faker! You're not gonna stop me!"

Sonic smiled and shrugged easily. "Alright then."

"...What?" Shadow stared for a second, thrown off guard.

"You heard me. You did just save us, and do all that other stuff you just said, so, well, I guess fair is fair. Take the emeralds."

Now Shadow was suspicious. "This is a trick."

Sonic shook his head. "Nope. But hey, where did you take us, anyway?"

Shadow didn't answer, only scooped up the two emeralds and started to walk away. After a second, he stopped, turned around, and answered tonelessly, "Angel Island."

There was a flash as he teleported away, and Tails turned to Sonic. "What was that? I've never seen you like that before, giving Shadow something without a fight! I mean what...?"

He trailed off because Sonic was suddenly on his level, urgently putting a finger to his lips as if the four's life depended on it, and yet smiling mischievously. Tails gulped. He knew that look.

"I knew it!" He said triumphantly. "We're on Angel Island! Quick, run, before Knuckles finds us here!" With that, he grabbed Tails and Cream's arms and started pulling them along impatiently.

"Come _on_, Tails, let's _go!"_

"I'm coming! Keep your fur on!"

"Why are we running, Mr. Sonic?"

"Well, it just hit me; Shadow chaos controlled us, right?"

"Yeah, _so?" _Tails snapped, annoyed at being rushed without a good cause. A shout echoed behind him. It sounded like Knuckles. Sonic sped up the pace.

"_So, _when you use chaos control, you end up teleporting everything you were touching - whether or not you wanted to bring it. And since Shadow was pulling on Stumpy when he teleported...!"

"Oh, _no!_"

"Oh, _yes. _Shadow helped us pull off the ultimate prank on Knuckles!"

"Mr. Sonic, shouldn't we go back and help him?" Cream glanced back towards Knuckles, looking worried. "I don't want that bad monster to hurt Mr. Knuckles."

Sonic hesitated. He was sure that Knuckles could take care of himself, yet Cream had a valid case in point. He _would _feel bad if Knuckles was injured during the fight. He slowed, indecisive, and probably would have gone back if Knuckles hadn't chosen that moment to yell, "SONIC! If you've touched one thing out of place this time, I swear I'll have your head!"

The four glanced at each other. "Chao?"

"Erm...Never mind," Tails commented, looking nervous. While he was a good friend in general, it appeared he was still upset over a certain event that had happened a few weeks ago that Tails had worked _very _hard to not think about. "I, uh, think he's still mad."

"We'll all make it up to Mr. Knuckles when he calms down later."

"It's for the best." agreed Sonic.

And the team shot off for the edge.

* * *

_Now _Knuckles was furious. It was bad enough he had chosen to come here a few weeks ago, but now the blue moron had returned. With friends, by the looks of it. Well, this time, he _had _the hedgehog! This time, he'd grab a hold of him, and wipe that little smirk off his...! Ah, what was the point? Knuckles cooled down quickly. Not only did he have next to no chance of beating Sonic, he also knew deep down all he had to do was get him to laugh, and he, the so-called guardian, would calm down just like that. But it wasn't like he could help it. Sonic seemed to have a natural gift for putting down people's guards and helping them relax.

Still, he'd pretend to be mad for a little bit longer. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs, "SONIC! If you've touched one thing out of place this time, I swear I'll have your head!"

Still, he hoped despite the threats (or perhaps because of them; Sonic was never good with rules) they would come back soon. Things got lonely up on Angel Island. There was no one to talk to, and he knew every inch, every stone, every living thing on this island- What?

There was something in the water. Something huge. Knuckles knew that the lake was deep and, despite its size, easily rival Loch Ness in terms of depth. But what could it be? He knew all the native species, and there was nothing that big. As the thing rose up, Knuckles simply stared, mouth agape. Then suddenly the power of speech was restored to him.

"SON-IC! What did you do _this time_?"


End file.
